open 'Of Uncommon Design' - SoL / Discovery / Survival / Interaction / Experimental

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

OOC Page:
http://mlpforums.com/topic/97058-of-uncommon-design-sol-interaction-romance-experimental-dark/page-2#entry2631044

Of Uncommon Design.

Even with the unusual events which had been taking place recently, you had never expected this.

The strange weather - the blazing sun shining over thick layers of unseasonal snow and the curious lights appearing all across Equestria: simply hanging in the air and seemingly doing nothing but glowing softly... the Canterlot guard had naturally tried to investigate but they were completely unresponsive. After a couple of days most ponies were at least starting to ignore the chaos and try to get on with their lives.

Until the wave hit.

Something, somewhere, had done a terrible thing. Whatever it was would probably go down in Equestrian history as the breaking point - the point where the boundary between worlds collapsed and life as it was known was turned upside down.

Like a shockwave that covered the world, it burst outwards from the crystal mountains - a wave of magic, raw and unpurified in its truly natural form: a nova of energy from some otherworldly dimension spilling across Equestria and starting a panicked conflict which would ultimately decide the fate of not one, but two worlds.

But this is not that story.

As the wave hit, you were caught completely unaware. It came with such speed and suddenness that none could have anticipated it. The tears - gateways through reality - between Equestria and the realm of magic, began to spread. It was clear what was happening after a few minutes, when the creatures began to spill forth into Equestria. What was less clear however, was that several ponies had been pulled in the other direction - into Arcana.

...

Darkness. There was no light there - not that mortal eyes could see anyway. The realm of magic worked differently to Equestria: things that seemed to always be present simply didn't exist here - light, warmth and cold, even air... magic in its rawest form was what sustained things here.

Things had a way of adapting quickly to this world - after an hour or so, your eyes begin to adjust. Shapes swim into view: a landscape of light stone, slightly blue in colour. It is to all intents and purposes, a wasteland. Sharply rising from the ground to the south and west are what appear to be cliffs. To the north is something similar to a lake, and the east is an open expanse - dotted with towering spikes of stone every so often.

The sky is a mass of whirling violet clouds - every so often there shines a diamond shaped light of pure white. It is these which illuminate the world around you: though there is something unnatural about the light. It feels... artificial. Like the difference between that from the sun and a fire there is just something about it that reminds you that it isn't anything like what you are accustomed to from your world.

Around you, other ponies begin to stir. You aren't alone...

---------------

???

Blinking more as an expression of surprise than for any real purpose, the figure watched as it approached the ponies. It cocked its head to one side curiously - a dismissive look in its eye as it floated slightly above the ground in a casual manner.

"Huh."

They were alive. It was strange enough that they were here at all... but surviving the journey? That was very difficult.

'Not just difficult...' It thought to itself. '... It's impossible! Well, evidently not, but it should be...'

It watched, and waited to see if any of the ponies would awaken fully.

[Half-Note 273]

Lightning Feather slowly drifted awake after having been knocked out by a sudden wave. 'What happened, one minute I was on a patrol around the changeling border then the next some force knocked me into a portal and I ended up...... Wherever this location is.' she thought to herself before her vision narrowed and she saw the figure hovering not to far away. "You there, were you with the platoon? Where are we?" She asked.

Edited May 14, 2014 by Half-Note

[Fender 1,283]

Spice Notes shivered awake, due to the unfamiliar surroundings.

 

While startled, she couldn't help but think she was dreaming. She had been having strange dreams since the strange events in Equestria, recently. Another moment passed, and after looking around in a confused manner, both at other ponies, and at the landscape, she felt sick to her stomach. There was something...awful about this place. 

 

"I-if this is a dream...I really wanna wake up right now." She climbed to her hooves, "Please, tell me this is a dream."

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

???

 

@@Half-Note,

@,

 

The creature looked at the one that had spoken first - staring for a moment before flashing forward: flickering from sight as it crossed the distance between them in less than a moment, appearing with its eyes mere inches from those of the pony.

 

"Ugh, you're all... squishy and fleshy." It observed in a distant, feminine voice that somehow managed to sound both cruel and cheerful at the same time. It paused, before flitting away again to look at the second to speak. Checking on a few more of the ponies, it returned to its position above them - hovering lazily in the air.

 

"Platoon? Never heard of him... kinda stupid name isn't it? Oh yes, I remember now... your race and its need to label and name everything..." She chuckled to herself - clearly enjoying the ponies distress. "its not safe for you here: you should probably keep your voices down. You're lucky it was me that found you in the first place."

[Scribblegroove 565]

Right before disaster struck, Moros had been quite willing. Since the strange lights had appeared his research had been devoted to the strange spectrums of magic that started to appear. Alien ones, in a form so pure that he had never imagined it even existing. Chaos flowed alongside order, darkness mended with light, his formulas that he had though to be laws didn't suffice to understand what had happened...

 

Days and nights he had analysed and constructed. Reasoned and engineered. He had started from scratch, rebuilding from where the mages of ages old had started off. Trying to create some kind of order withing the vortex of magical impulses that had been swirling around him, and the minefield of new discoveries that sent him back to the start whenever he found one. Nopony realized, nopony knew. Subtle changes that he had noticed, that in the mundane life wouldn't be noticed, but actually changed the fabric of existance itself. It frustrated him. He didn't understand anymore. Knowledge established long ago meant nothing anymore. It was infuriating.

 

And when the bright lights of fate gazed down upon him, calling him into a new realm, he didn't resist. He let it consume him... He had to know...

 

 

A vibration... A sense... a raw instinct. That was what he sensed. There was magic again... The alien kind. So pure an ancient, so strange. The darkness that had consumed him gave him more information than the past weeks of research as a whole. This... this was something on a much grander scale than Moros had ever presumed before. The world had been twisted and turned... Had he died? Was this the eternal limbo of the afterlife? Was this sense of strange magic only thing he would ever feel?

 

When his eyesight slowly returned, he made a conclusion. "Either there is an afterlife, or I am not dead yet..." Immediately afterwards, he made a promise to himself. "Let's not draw conclusions too quickly..." With that thought, he tried to focus on his environment. With it slowly sharpening and shifting into the crystal-clear image he was used to, he realised he was not alone. Even more so, he heard voices. Numbed at first, he couldn't decpiher what these creatures... if they even were 'creatures', were saying. They weren't speaking a different language however. He clearly picked up words and intonation of the common equine tounge... "An illusion perhaps? A figment of my imagination?"

 

He frowned and pinched his eyes, trying to get a better sight on the situation. He stood up. "Good, at least I can control my physique..." He had had vivid and hyper-realistic dreams and hallucinations before. He had put himself into 'cognitive hibernation' several times, but never was it so... strange... alien... like this world was. He didn't cancel the thought out yet though. It would be best to play along for now.

 

He sensed that it would not be wise to start throwing spells around. He didn't know how this environment would react. This thought was encouraged even more when he saw a strange creature hovering above them. "A different world? One of strange spirits perhaps?" This though excited him. Maybe it was. Another thing to add to his list hypothetical thesi.

 

He reckoned it wouldn't do harm to try to ask the being that knew what was going on a few questions... Even if it were just his own subconsciousness, it would give away clues on his dilemma... He coughed.

 

"Why is does the spectrum of dissolved magic exclude the color blue?" He asked with a soft voice, taking the thing's  advice to heart. The question was odd, but he had trained his subconsciousness... hypnotised it so to speak, to react to that question somehow. It was his wake-up key sentance. After saying so, nothing drastic seemed to happen. "Not a dream..."

 

"My apologies, what I meant to say is... where did I arrive?" He continued, keeping it vague that it wasn't his intention to shift to a different location. He was bluffing subtly. If this situation really was what he thought, care was a given. He did not realise that he might seem like a lunatic, but his nimble mind was too quick to care for mundane things like that...

[Fender 1,283]

@, 

 

Spice Notes observed the creature for a moment, and then the world around her. She was doing everything she could not to panic. "Okay...okay...this is wrong. Everything here is so wrong..." The mare helplessly, and nervously, vomited on the ground in front of her.

 

A moment later, she coughed, and stepped back a bit. "What...is this place? What are you?"

[EcstaticWind 572]

Aegis stirred slowly, unsure of this new reality he seemed to now be a part of. Part of him wanted to scream, another part was delighted to discover something new, but there was a third feeling. A sickening feeling of dread and nausea. He shakily got up, as if learning how to walk all over again. Three times he tried, and three times he failed to keep his balance. On the fourth time, he nearly threw up.

 

"This...is gonna take some getting used to. Ugh..." He tried getting up again, widening his stance to keep balance. He tentatively spread his wings. "Dead sure I'm missing something...and I'm talking to myself. Wonderful... I'm going crazy."

[purple.teal 50]

Everlast opens his eyes,finding himself laying on rocky sand. "I always meant to take a vacation..." His chuckle turns into a cough as he spits out some of the sand.  A throbbing in his horn made him squeeze his eyes shut and clench his teeth in pain. "I wonder if this will count this against my sick days..." He sits up and looks about him, but the pain in his horn blurs his vision to little more than blurs. He lies down again in an attempt to dull the pain.

 

Could that be other voices? "Leave me alone or bring me some sunscreen." He begins to fade back into unconsciousness, but manages one last whisper, "An bit of ice won't hurt either." 

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

???

 

The creature watched the display as a couple more ponies seemed to find their way into consciousness, while the one if them simply made a mess of the ground and insulted its home.

 

"What, where, why... that's all you kind ever do: ask questions and demand answers! Huh!" It drifted downwards slightly to allow itself to be seen more clearly.

 

Physicaly, it looked almost like a pony. Its features matched its female voice, and its coat held a curious shifting texture which, on closer inspection - would be revealed to be more like water than actual hair. It's mane shifted through shades of metallic blue, purple and pink as it moved, but it was the distinct otherness which really set it apart from the 'real' ponies: that strange feeling that the creature was in some way false - not to mention its unusually angular proportions... or that it was floating just slightly off the ground.

 

"I'm a powerful and dangerous magical entity! A physical manifestation of eldritch power itself! A venerable incarnation of arcane energy in its purest form!" Still icy yet oddly cheerful, the creatures voice shifted suddenly to one which was far more 'normal' sounding as it took on a stroppy, bitter tone for a brief moment. "... and I am not 'wrong', thank you very much."

Edited May 15, 2014 by Cinderscribe

[Fender 1,283]

@, 

 

Spice Notes finally gritted her teeth, she normally didn't lose her temper this easily, but this was an emergency (and in her head, the way to solve her problems.)

 

"Don't know why I asked, it doesn't matter what you are. What matters-" She looked at the other ponies "-is why we are here, and how we are going to get the hay out of here." On the inside, she was far more intimidated by the creature than she showed. She almost gulped nervously, but instead, it came out as clearing her throat.

[Half-Note 273]

???

 

@@Half-Note,

@,

 

The creature looked at the one that had spoken first - staring for a moment before flashing forward: flickering from sight as it crossed the distance between them in less than a moment, appearing with its eyes mere inches from those of the pony.

 

"Ugh, you're all... squishy and fleshy." It observed in a distant, feminine voice that somehow managed to sound both cruel and cheerful at the same time. It paused, before flitting away again to look at the second to speak. Checking on a few more of the ponies, it returned to its position above them - hovering lazily in the air.

 

"Platoon? Never heard of him... kinda stupid name isn't it? Oh yes, I remember now... your race and its need to label and name everything..." She chuckled to herself - clearly enjoying the ponies distress. "its not safe for you here: you should probably keep your voices down. You're lucky it was me that found you in the first place."

Lightning got up from her lying position and stared the figure down. "What makes this place so dangerous, and more importantly, who and what are you?" She asked the strange creature as she took up a defensive posture. She also noticed some other ponies stirring out of the corner of her eyes. ((Oops, double post.)) Edited May 15, 2014 by Half-Note

[Half-Note 273]

???

 

@@Half-Note,

@,

 

The creature looked at the one that had spoken first - staring for a moment before flashing forward: flickering from sight as it crossed the distance between them in less than a moment, appearing with its eyes mere inches from those of the pony.

 

"Ugh, you're all... squishy and fleshy." It observed in a distant, feminine voice that somehow managed to sound both cruel and cheerful at the same time. It paused, before flitting away again to look at the second to speak. Checking on a few more of the ponies, it returned to its position above them - hovering lazily in the air.

 

"Platoon? Never heard of him... kinda stupid name isn't it? Oh yes, I remember now... your race and its need to label and name everything..." She chuckled to herself - clearly enjoying the ponies distress. "its not safe for you here: you should probably keep your voices down. You're lucky it was me that found you in the first place."

Lightning got up from her lying position and stared the figure down. "What makes this place so dangerous, and more importantly, who and what are you?" She asked the strange creature as she took up a defensive posture. She also noticed some other ponies stirring out of the corner of her eyes.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

???

 

@@Half-Note,

 

The creature mimicked Lightnings glare for a moment before chuckling to herself and flickering through the air a few more times - inspecting each of the waking ponies in turn as she spoke.

 

"You can call me Amethyst, if you must. That's a name from your place, isn't it?"

 

@@Scribblegroove,

 

Appearing beside the horned male, she looked dismissively at the spike and shook her head with an irritated expression.

 

"You've changed a lot since I last saw ponies. Figures... Huh." She shrugged, adding a muttered "... leeches... " under her breath.

 

@@Windbreaker,

 

Flickering away again, she appeared beside the winged one that was mumbling to himself.

 

"I like these: they make sense!" Added the creature - prodding the pegasus pony's wing with a hoof. "A bit primitive I guess... but hey, can't win them all!"

 

@,

 

Finally appearing again in front of (but sufficiently far enough away to avoid the effects of any more illness) Spice Notes, Amethyst grinned wickedly.

 

"Home? Don't ask me! This is my home - it's pretty impressive that you got here at all - you're probably the first ponies to see this place... well, the first living ones anyway..." She shrugged. "Guess your here 'till you figure it out then, aren't you... Huh, well that should be pretty funny to watch at least!"

 

@@Ochre_Dust,

@@SilverHeart,

@@Pelate,

@,

@@purple.teal,

 

"Look on the bright side..." She said causally, nodding towards the rest of the scattered ponies. "At least your not on your own! I'm sure one of them just said something..."

[EcstaticWind 572]

@,

 

 "Hey! These are my wings, and they're good wings. Primitive they may be, but I like my wings." Aegis said in an indignant tone, frowning at the weird pony thing. She was the last thing on his mind, though. And if she wanted to harm any of them, she could've done it at any time. for now, regaining mobility was more important. So far, he had succeeded in standing up. Next came actually moving. He took a tentative step forward, nearly losing his balance. "Ah! Close call there... Interesting place, though. This would make one hell of a novel if I could find some paper and ink."

[SilverHeart 741]

Mirror Image had yet to get up. She couldn't even remember exactly what had happened.  The last thing she remembered was laying down in a small clearing to rest for a while. From what she could hear at least some of the other ponies were as confused as she was. She reached her left hoof and touched the mask, making sure that she hadn't lost it. She stood up, rather shakily, and turned around so that she could listen to the others. It would probably be best to be an observer until somepony talked to her.

[Firehearted 120]

Hunter lay on the ground quiet as he slowly came back to consciousness. 

"Ugh..." The ground felt cold under his fur. 

​What happened? Last I remember I was on the road from Canterlot to Manehatten... Why am I in pain? 

He slowly opened his eyes. He could hear some talking nearby. 

"Where am I?" He slowly got to his hooves not paying that much attention to the ponies nearby.

[purple.teal 50]

With consciousness regained and the pain gone, Everlast sits up, using more will power than normally necessary. He finds that he is not, as much as he may have dreamed, on vacation at a beach. Far from it. He stands up and suffers a recurrence of his pain, tolerable this time. You've prepared for a time like this. This is just the adventure you've always wanted. A giggle. Put first things first, understand the surroundings. Normally, that wouldn't be so hard, but this time there isn't much to understand. A blank world with a population of one.

 

Turning at the sound of voices, he sees a silver lining. He is not alone at least. A few other ponies seem to be suffering the same fate as himself. About to call out and ask what was going on, he stops himself when he notices they look about as confused as himself. Naturally seeking a leader, he begins to walk toward the most confidant looking one in the group, but again stops himself short when he realizes it isn't exactly a pony.

[Harmony.exe 95]

[iGNORE THIS POST]

 

Vaeltaja was shoved in along with the ponies. Being a spirit, she was native to this place-- or was she? She couldn't be sure, given the circumstances of her creation. She doesn't even remember how exactly she got her name; she just knows that her name is Vaeltaja.

 

She is tempted to investigate one of the ponies to see if they had any information regarding their predicament (for she has found ponies to be quite knowledgeable on certain subjects), she saw that she was visible; something very unusual for her to be.

 

"Hello?", she says to any ponyin range. Her voice is like a whisper, yet it is as easily heard as if she were right next to them.

Edited May 16, 2014 by Vikingpony

[Scribblegroove 565]

Moros tried to make some sense out of this mess. Try to make some connections between things he saw and the things he knew. This feeling, the sense of it all made him think of something. It all felt familliar and yet strange somehow. He just couldn't grasp the realisation that was floating in the air. 

 

"'Leeches'... A strange thing to say..." He said to the entity that was observing them. He pinched his eyes in a questioning manner. His permanently downward ears made it look like he was slightly agitated, but he was just curious. "What do you mean with that?" If what he suspected was true, he would be a lot wiser on where they are... Though in this situation he hoped his assumptions were wrong, they were most likely right, and it frightened him.

 

@all

 

He walked slightly towards the floating being, closing in the space between them. He looked back to see the scattered group of ponies. Few of the were unicorns. Perhaps they could be of use. "Would you all please come to senses and stand. We have a major situaion here which requires all of us to be at the peak of our cognitive performances to solve our problem." He announced, trying to take the lead slightly. His physique and way of talking usually led to somepony else taking over the leading position, since he didn't look very potent, but he had to give an example before somepony actually acted... He seemed very calm, but actually he was slowly starting to panic in his mind. He tried not to show it 

[Half-Note 273]

Lightning Feather looked around at the other ponies gathered around. None of them appeared to be part of the guard, and they all seemed to be just as confused as she was. "Does anyone have any clue where we are or how we can get back to Equestria?" She asked the gathered crowd.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Amethyst.

 

@@Windbreaker,

 

"I said I liked them - what more do you want?" Shrugged the not-mare. "Just trying to be polite, you know. You being guests here and everything."

 

Glancing about as the others spoke, she grinned icily again.

 

"Long-term guests with the sound of things! Huh... Really? You all got here alive, and none of you know how to get back? Ugh, next you'll all be telling me that you don't knew how you got here!"

 

@,

 

"Really? You really don't...? I thought you were all joking! You really don't have a clue, do you?" Amethyst snorted mirthfully. It took a minute or two for her laughter to subside. "Ahem! Yeah, this is my home. I think its called Arcana, in Equestrian... and if you genuinely didn't mean to be here then you probably don't have a way back, so you had better start getting comfortable."

 

@Everyone

 

The ponies all looked alike to her, but they really didn't appear to know anything about this place, of about each other even. That would be a good place to start.

 

"Maybe get to know each other first? If we're doing the whole 'name' thing then you might as well tell me yours I guess."

[purple.teal 50]

Everlast

 

After getting over his shock of seeing the apparition, Everlast continues forward to the group collecting around it. It wasn't harming anyone, it in fact seemed to be helping organize the ponies. Strange times make strange bedfellows I think is how it goes. He listened to it and took its advice. 

 

@Everyone conscious

 

"I am Everlast. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. All of yours." 

 

@Cinderscribe

 

"You seem to be the least affected by this place," A glance over the figure in front of him and a shudder. Or perhaps the most affected. Either way  our best lead. "And at this point I couldn't care less about what happened, I want to know what happens next." 

[EcstaticWind 572]

@, 

 

Aegis shrugged. "Sorry. Just trying to process everything that's happened thus far. Didn't mean to snap at you, miss. By the way, do you mind if I call you 'Ammy'?" He asked, though whether he was brave or stupid was a matter for debate.

 

He took up a normal stance and folded his wings, sure of his balance now. As a test, he took a few steps forward and introduced himself. "I'm Aegis Dare. I used to be a writer back home, but I can't remember much of how I got here or what happened before that event." He said in a nonchalant tone, as if he wasn't bothered by the fact that there was a gap in his memory and that he had no idea how to get back home.

[Fender 1,283]

@,@@Windbreaker, @@purple.teal, @@Half-Note,@@Scribblegroove, @, @, @@SilverHeart,  

 

 

Spice Notes held her tongue for a moment, she backed off in a frustrated manner. 

 

She avoided the other ponies for a moment, and the creature. Another moment passed, and she took a deep breath. "I...I am Blue Blossom." Her lie wasn't the most blatant, but a lie nonetheless. A name of an old...friend.

[Ochre_Dust 329]

Ochre lay on his back, painfully stretched over the edge of a rock jutting twelve feet into the air. He rolled over, and fell to smack into the ground. "Hayowacha!" He yelled incoherently as the ground rushed to meet him. With a thud he is silenced, and picks himself up off the ground with a body-length bruise to act as testament to his entry. "Ow... Ow..." He blinked for a few moments and takes in the others gathered around. "What was that thing I got sucked into?"

 

@

Catching sight of the strangest member of the assemblage, Ochre hobbled towards the effeminate, pony-like creature. "Excuse me? What's going on here?"

 

((Sorry to be late to posting, I was a little confused earlier about whether or not I had been accepted.))