Ponies & Dragons - Episode 1: A Tail of Two Cities

[Starburst]

Silk scroll grunts slightly, hoofing through a newspaper. Her hair is in a cow-lick, there are bags under her eyes from lack of sleep.

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble paused in surprise. His dam was ... virtually never like this. He sat down next to her, trying to keep a worried expression off his face. "Was there something untowards? Lingering aftereffects of the rat? Is there aught I could do for you?"

[Starburst]

"It's hard to act prim and proper once you're taken over by a malevolent force and forced to do its bidding, knowing that it could've killed you at any moment." Silk Scroll says rather analytically, albeit grumpily. It will probably be far some time before she's back to normal. Even the maid is acting on edge, shivering in fear and jumping back from the slightest noises. "But that's hardly your fault. And I'm sorry for snapping at you. We'd still be at that things mercy if you hadn't came and saved us." she says, sighing.

[Bramble Rose]

His dam's words made Bramble's stomach churn. This was not what his dam had told him after countless public embarassments, or when those bandits had rapelled down from an airsihp to crash one of the parties his dam had brought her young colt to ... He could almost hear the whiny voice of that young colt he had once been, "They're going to kill us! This is no time to worry about politeness!"

Bramble smiled gently, and while his words made a lecture, his tone was gentle and reassuring. "It is when times are at their worst, that it is most important for us to be at our best. Whatever fortune throws at us, fire, famine, or death ... or uncouth bandit scum ... " he left unsaid, 'or psychic rats,' "our manners show the world we will not be bowed down under it, and provide a crutch for us to keep moving forward against any injury."

Those words had steeled a young colt's courage against what he was sure was certain death ... he could only hope they were a balm for his dam's injuries.

[Starburst]

Silk scroll realized whose words they were, and smiled in response, warmth spreading through her.

"Thank you." she said, hugging Bramble Rose in front of Ironmane. "You're a good son." she said, bopping him in the nose.

"But your place isn't here with me, its out with that handsome hat wearing pony and that armored platinum protector. Princess Platinum and Princess Celestia need you more than I do right now."

"If there's time when you finish their task you can come back and visit. I'm sure we'll be fine on our own. Our wounds are of a mental nature, and will heal with time."

She hugs him one last time, and pats him on the head, still much taller than her own son. "And maybe you'll grow a few inches and stop looking like a mare." she says under her breath, barely audible.

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble was so relieved that his mother had perked up that he forgot to be embarassed at the initial interplay, just blushing a little as she talked about how much he was needed. It wasn't till she had to follow it up with *that* that he let out a soft, "Mooooooom!" of protest, rolling his eyes. He let out an exasperated noise, then took a step back and let his upper-class manner fall across him once more.

"Well, I can't say it's not true. I really *must* get to the university to find out what they have available to me there, and put in some time researching a little something I have in mind, that will help me contribute more when things get rough. Ironmane, will you be so good as to wake up our good friend Curtain for me? He wished to be woken up in three hours, but I think he could do with a bit more sleep than that, if nothing pressing occurs. I leave it to your discretion, unless you have something pressing as well?"

It wasn't till he said this that he realized he was tossing Ironmane and Curtain together in a potentially sweet and tender situation. Curses! Ah well, can't take it back now...

[Trilobite]

Ironmane turns from looking out the window, for all the world as if she hadn't heard a thing (bluff roll please!).

"Not at all, Bramble Rose, I would be delighted. Lady Silk Scroll, I would like to thank you again for your hospilality, and I must commend you on raising such a fine stallion. It is quite evident from where Bramble Rose derives his bravery and aplomb. If you will excuse me?" With that, she heads upstairs.

Walking quietly (stealth roll please!), the paladin opens the door, slipping into the shadowed bedroom...

[Starburst]

( 19 Bluff vs. Brambles 21 Sense motive, Bramble sees through Ironmane's attempt at a lie. )

( 16 Stealth vs. Curtain's 10 Perception, Ironmane is able to move with poise and grace, stepping over the creaky floorboards to reach her destination undetected. )

[Kirby Krackle]

If awake and alert Curtain Call could see the currently asleep atop a wardrobe Curtain Call, there would be indeed sore disappointment. Would awake Curtains tip over the furniture in order to deliver therudest awakening possible? Most definitely. And then would he rob himself as icing on the cupcake? That's a big yes.

The Paladin has literally caught him napping. Inconceivable! No dream is worth such an insult to his profession. Though, to be fair, there was a drowsy and shaken Ironmane, an extra long and shining mane draping over eyes her wide, stunning eyes glistening with tears, silk sheets clinging to her in the summer heat-

Nevermind.

At least our hero isn't snoring. No. Wait, he is. Drooling? A little. But not tossing. He only got one good roll in before collapsing to the floor.

[Trilobite]

Ironmane tiptoes over to the bed, totally taken in by the simulacrum and somehow missing Curtain Call sprawled out on the floor. She reaches out a hoof to touch the lump under the matress. "Curtain Call," she calls, in a sweet lilting voice.

[Kirby Krackle]

Would Ironmane be proud or ashamed of Curtain Call remaining asleep after impact? Probably worried, since his head cracked onto the floor first. It's a different kind of sleep now. The Paladin's lovely voice did manage to shake him out of a concussion.

So his brain, while responsive now, was still suffering from a cocktail of sleep deprivation and psychic tampering and being rattled around against the skull. So the best greeting that could come out of his mouth was, "Seventeen fish sticks!"

[Trilobite]

Ironmane whirled around to face the dresser, starting to rear up aggressively. "Oh! Oh, my goodness, Curtain Call, is that you? Then who..." she turns with great trepidation to lift the covers off the bed.

[Kirby Krackle]

"Absolutely no one".

Curtain Call did recall hastily constructing a decoy to fool... somepony, which he revealed from under the sheets to Ironmane with no ceremony whatsoever. What escaped him at the moment was why he put this ruse together. And for that matter, whose bed was this and why was a gash on his forehead bleeding all over it? Questions for later, he decided. Right now the grumbling in his stomach needed to be silenced.

"Good morning by the way, or whatever time it happens to be right now."

What's this? She's left the tin suit behind for nothing but a tiara? Va va va voom. A gentlecolt would let the lady know she's done right by her appearance. Too bad Curtain Call is probably concussed.

"Wowzers."

[Trilobite]

Ironmane smiled. "Thank you, Curtain Call," she saied with a little cursty. "And I am relieved to see it is not a shapeshifter or some other evil entity lurking beneath the duvet." She looks Curtain Call over, clearly checking his state of being. "Bramble Rose is putting together an expedition to the university. I thought I would check in and see if you were fit to join or whether you might prefer more sleep? I understand all the excitement of last night must have been somewhat exhausting."

[Kirby Krackle]

"I've functioned on less sleep", Curtain Call monotoned, already gathering his things through one blood-shot eye. The other remained closed for reasons he needs to bandage up later.

"Besides, I've got some leads to run by the group as well. Some quiet time in Academia should serve us well."

He showed no discomfort when dressing in front of Ironmane. One of the tricks you learn in theater is how to kick modesty out the door when theres only one changing room. He checked his inventory next, noting the "borrowed" magic book he would be asking questions about later. Meanwhile, everything sharp and sneaky and shiny were accounted for.

"Ready."

[Trilobite]

On the way down the stairs to meet up with Bramble Rose, Ironmane turned to him. "Thank you again for last night."

[Kirby Krackle]

"Think nothing of it", Curtain Call responded with more than a little rose in his cheeks. Being thanked was new to him and he liked the fact that it was happening more often lately. "What are friends for, right?" He admitted to himself that he was fishing at the moment. After all, he had a guess about how she felt about the two colts of her acquaintance. But what are guesses worth? That's right. Nothing. Interrogations will begin now. Or at least, when they're alone. Stupid Bramble, who he politely greeted with ruffling his mane with a nice rough noogie.

[Trilobite]

Curtain Call might be fishing, but his reply is a warm smile and a quick peck on the cheek.

[Kirby Krackle]

(( Okay. This has been dead for far too long. Time to strong arm things. ))

It means less thinking to follow rather than lead and Curtain Call, at least this time, was happy to lazily trot along behind the two unicorns who actually knew where they were going. Just as he saw them back at Filt's, the two were bantering back and forth like school foals and the rogue did feel a little jealous. Not so much of Bramble, because of 'Ha ha I got a kiss', but the dynamic in general. Why don't I get to make small talk, he asked himself quietly. Why don't I get to- Oh hey look. Hot cider stand.

There was now a sweet and spicy (he detected nutmeg) beverage warming his bones and he felt all the more alert because of it. He noted, by the way, that despite time wasted with a barista, he lost very little in the ways of distance between him and his party. Maybe they just walk slow, he thought.

The University was, for lack of a better word, glorious. It felt more like a palace than a hall of learning, but on the other hoof, this was Canterlot and it's hard to get the smell of newsprint out of the air. The smaller of his friends was greeted warmly by the staff, asking him questions along the lines of "How's the family, Bramble?". Some even recognized Ironmane and welcomed her the same. They met through Bramble, he reasoned. Curtain Call on the other hand decided to vanish before introductions could be made. Introductions lead to awkward questions which lead to him lying and he didn't feel like lying this morning. Or afternoon. Come to think of it, he had no idea what time it actually was. He briefly considered slipping into the little colt's room to apply some 'make-up' but decided instead to just ask where the theatre section was and curl up with a book of Playwright's sonnets. When Ironmane and Bramble Rose were done, they could find him.

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble Rose was surprised at the change of plans, but he didn't mind, so much. He got to show his friends the world he grew up in! His own turf, as much as the forest was his world as well. His steps were light as he led the way down the road, reminiscing with Ironmane about old adventures. "Could have been worse - that time the sorcerer bandits got the drop on us, we were in that hole for three days ... thought we were going to go insane in there!"

He smiled as he led his friends onto the campus, making sure to take the most scenic route he could find. "Ah, and up there's the Galaxy Gala building, named after the unicorn that mapped out the dance of the skies. And over there, that's the Starswirl Observation Tower."

"And here we are," he finally said, grinning to Ironmane, then looking back to see where Curtain Call had gotten himself off to. "Hey, you well? You seem a bit quiet today. Come along, I want you to meet my old teacher. I believe you'll quite like him."

He led the way through the quiet halls, and gave a brief knock before opening Professor Erudition's door. His high-class accent rather disappeared again as he called, "Hey, Hoss! You would not *believe* the night I had! Did you remember to do some research for me, or are you getting senile in your old age?"

[Trilobite]

"Yes, well conditions in our hideout might have been marginally more tolerable if certain ponies I could name had not lost all of their rations except for cabbage and wasabi. There are some things one never forgets." Ironmane kept up a pleasant banter with her old friend, turning back ocassionally to give Curtain Call a friendly smile. She understood his being quiet, and frankly was amazed he had decided to accompany them to the University, but by now Ironmane was beginning to understand that Curtain Call was made of sterner stuff than the average stallion.

As Bramble Rose falls into conversation with his old mentor, Ironmane turns back to say something to Curtain Call--only to find him gone. Vanished again. She looked about, but saw nothing suspicious. Perhaps he preferred solitude, but after the events of the previous night...she walked back to the last intersection and looked around, then stopped a passing pony. "Pardon me, but I wonder if you have seen my friend, a stallion about your height..." she goes on to give a decent description of Curtain Call, keeping one ear turned back toward Bramble Rose and his conversation in case she's summoned.

[Kirby Krackle]

It's said that there are two books that every household must have. One of them is the complete works of Playwright. Coming from two parents who were both thespians and not very religious, Curtain Call has only read the one. Hundreds of times. He can, if there's no pressure, recite some from memory. So, for recreational reading, he found it a little too comforting and nearly dozed off a few times. With respect to the librarians, he placed the book back on its proper shelf and sat back down with a book of his own: the tome he borrowed from Bramble's home. He cracked it open, seeing once again, incomprehensible words but read through each character anyway. Languages all have patterns, right? So he reasoned that he, with enough time (maybe a thousand years) could crack this one. While he read, there were on occasion some passers by that happened to be Unicorn. To spite any gawking from them, he put on his best face to look like he knew what in the hay was written.

(( Bluff is +7. Or is it +10 because it's a class skill I have ranks in? I suddenly forget. But anyway, ain't I a stinker? ))

[Starburst]

Unfortunately arcane characters barely follow rules that other languages follow, and are often encoded so that only the writer of the book can understand the text hidden inside. As far as you can tell this seems to be the case.. but you can't tell very well. You weren't able to accurately decipher anything from the book. You found a character that you believe means to wave your hooves about menacingly, but beyond that it seems like half-draconic half-gobbledygook as far as you can tell.

Someone with more knowledge in the arcane arts may know more, you suppose.

[Kirby Krackle]

"An arrow to the head would be less painful than this."

Frustration makes a wonderful eye opener. The grumpy pony was now fully awake and ready to toss this blasted book into a fire. Honestly, these aren't even words! They're a Rorschach test! A printing error! A pox on every creature with a horn, he cursed, solely for putting him through this kind of torture. Soundly defeated, he slammed the book shut and tucked it back into his saddlebag to discreetly search for his team. Completely out of habit, he let out their bird call just once.

[Trilobite]

(Ooh-ooh! Listen check for Ironmane, please!)