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

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Amethyst.

 

Amethyst yawned - well, she performed an action that looked like a yawn at least - and inspected her hoof as if it was far more interesting than the number of interdimensional ponies standing before her. After a few moments of awkward silence, she sighed loudly and rolled her eyes.

 

"Fine!" Snapped the eldritch mare - descending to the ground sharply. "I'll help! If just to shut you all up... Ugh."

 

She paced between the others - inspecting them closely. There were traces of the taint, but that was to be expected. It was a wonder that they were alive at all - it would be interesting to watch how the taint affected them in this realm.

 

"This place is called Arcana. It's connected to your Equestria... and is where you leech your precious magic from." Snorting disdainfully as she said the word 'magic' as if it entertained her, Amethyst continued. She was actually fairly vocal once she got going. "I don't know how you got here and I don't know any way for you to get back... not that doesn't involve... ahem, no, I don't know how you can get back."

 

In her (admittedly limited) experience of ponies, she found that they tended to panic when certain things were mentioned - things like having ones mind and body corrode and break down into a twisted, tainted shadow of what it once was. She decided not to mention that small detail - they would at least be more tolerable if they didn't start screaming and drawing the attention of everything within earshot.

 

"So... You're ponies then? Huh. That's... yeah. Look, I'm not so good at the whole 'talking' thing. I guess you need to eat and stuff, don't you? You haven't gotten past that stage yet?"

[Scribblegroove 565]

Moros had been listening closely to what everypony had been saying. Through the confused and distressed pleas, he could find a few pieces of information that deemed useful to him. But then, the strange creature mentioned something that made him widen his eyes and twitch his nose. He stared at her. ‘Arcana’… ‘Where magic comes from...’

 

He added 1 and 1, connected the dots, in his mind a machine stumbled into action. “Bloody Celestia I was right…” He mumbled. The realisation hit him like a freight train. He stumbled and looked down to the ground for a moment regaining his balance. “Aurum you blasted imbecile I was right!” He then said slightly louder. He was happy and frustrated at the same time. His assumptions, his theories, the ones that had been ridiculed and laughed upon for the last few years. The signs of another world, of a greater one. He had been right all along.

 

He got himself together and pushed his amazement aside for the time being. Without his equipment and notes he couldn’t do anything with his theories anyway. He looked up at the floating being again. “I hope you do understand that we are completely at her mercy? We are mere infants lost in a world of dangers that we cannot even comprehend. The pure fabric of the place is unknown to us. By helping us she is saving our lives…” Even though he was looking at the being, he was speaking to all the ponies around him, with a tone and voice that clearly implied that he was addressing to everyone.

 

He kept staring at the strange being, without a single change in his expressionless face. “Eating is not our greatest problem right now. We need a place where we are at least slightly certain that we are safe. We need some kind of shelter… Food will come later. Talking is trivial as well.” He looked around, perceiving the environment like it was. Familiar, yet strange… “I am not fond of dying, so we should get to work quickly. If you’re going to help us, try to explain to us what dangers we need to prepare for.” He didn’t know much of this world, but one thing he did know is that it made use of infinitely more power than all the ponies on their world combined.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Scribblegroove

[purple.teal 50]

Everlast gave his largest grin. This is the place magic comes from? We 'leech' power from this place, drawing it between worlds, but now we are in direct access to it all. Direct access to raw power! Of course, this power is useless if we die attempting to tame it. One step at a time. Even dragons start out small... 

 

Another unicorn was speaking to the native and trying to create a plan. Alright I'll leave that to him. Let him create a plan, if he has insider information from that- he glanced toward the ethereal pony. -Then it is sure to be the best course of action. He begins checking himself over and then glances around at everyone else. With everything that the ethereal pony said about never making it here alive, they all seemed to make it through without much harm. 

 

With nowhere to go, and no goal in sight, Everlast sits down and scratches at the ground. No physical damage may have been done but is everyone's Intelligence and mental abilities alright? It seems so, being as everyone was awaking sane enough. he himself seemed alright, but the most important part, his magical abilities, remained untested. He stops scratching at the ground and begins to concentrate. We already know that this place seems to be filled with magic energy. A limitless ocean. and one may not be able to handle it all, so perhaps if I could just do some small spell, just use a small drop... He focuses on the ground around him in a childish attempt to form it into a sand castle. Maybe this could be a vacation after all.

[Half-Note 273]

Lightning Feather took all this information in and simply looked around once more. She noticed Moros seeming to know what was going on to a reasonable degree so she marched up to him and stood straight. "Excuse me, I am Luitenent Lightning Feather of the eastern border garrison and it would appear you have some idea of what is going on, Is there any chance you can find a way back?" She asked him sternly.

[EcstaticWind 572]

Amethyst seemed to think most of them would panic, and one of the Unicorns probably was, even though he was trying to be a leader. Aegis, however, wasn't so much panicking as he was really wishing he had some ink and something to write on. Sure the world was likely dangerous, but this was an entirely new world with so much to discover. Still, wandering off without any information was suicidal at best.

 

But he had to admit he was wary of Ammy. Something about her set off warning bells in his mind, other than the obvious, of course. 'Paranoia isn't any reason to go and be rude to her, though,' Aegis thought as he surveyed the group. 'Couldn't hurt to interact with them a little. I wonder how many of them will think I'm a mare 'til I start talking...' With that last thought, he walked closer to the group, intending to mingle a bit and get a feel for the ponies he'd likely be grouped with for the foreseeable future.

[Ochre_Dust 329]

@

 

"Well, that's one way to be introduced to this. And yes, us ponies do need things like food. And water... Some shelter would be nice." Ochre Dust kicked at the rocky ground, then looked to the others.

 

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

 

Ochre smiled, then waved a hoof at the others. "Uh, Hi. I'm Ochre Dust. That weird pony-thing flitting about raises a good point. We do need to find food and... well, I'm not seeing any here. Anybody have any idea where we might find some plants, or even seeds?" He glanced over his shoulder to the massive horizon. "Anybody care to accompany me while I look?"

Edited May 20, 2014 by Ochre_Dust

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Amethyst.

 

Amethyst looked forward for a moment and shrugged.

 

"Shelter is easiest I guess - just try to avoid anything particularly light. Or anything dark for that matter..." She mused. "Or anything that moves: stay away from anything that moves - and if something sounds like its talking to you, ignore it because it doesn't want to help you."

 

She might have been joking - it was hard to tell since the tone if her voice never really seemed to change - it was always that cold, cruel, singsong voice.

 

"Water is water, just the same as it is in your world. You won't find any seas or anything, but there's a sort-of-lake not too far from here."

 

She paused.

 

"Food's harder - we don't eat or drink... not the same way that you do anyway: water only exists here because of the rifts that sometimes open up under lakes and things in your world. I doubt than many things here are remotely edible for ponies..."

 

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

 

The ground shuddered: or rather, that's what it felt like. A wave of nausea struck the ponies - effecting each one in turn. Within a minute or so it had touched them all: a churning in their stomachs and an uncomfortably sharp, tingling sensation washing across their bodies. Dizziness began set in...

 

Less than another minute later, it was gone.

 

Legs shook - suddenly weakened by the ordeal. This world might be 'wrong' but there was something more - there was something 'wrong' deep inside the ponies here as well.

Edited May 20, 2014 by Cinderscribe

[Ochre_Dust 329]

@

 

"Woah." Ochre Dust rocks back and forth on his hooves for several seconds as the wave of nausea passes, leaving him feeling weak. "Mind telling us what exactly that was? It feels like all the blood drained out of my head for a few seconds, or that I haven't been sleeping in days."

[purple.teal 50]

After rising from the pile of sand he crushed as he fell, Everlast looked around to see everyone else suffering the same Aftershocks? That he was. Ok, nothing to worry about then. So long as he has a spotter to help him through. He waked over to the nearest pony who happened to have a brick wall on his flank. A solid wall. A smile. Just right. 

 

@ @Ochre_Dust

 

Now standing beside the brown pony he spoke, "You there, you said your name was Dust? I apologize, I wasn't quite paying attention before the last bout of what ever dementia it is we suffer from this place hit us. I would like to get to be frank with you. If something like that happens again, perhaps worse, we may not be able to handle it alone, and I understand that if we are both hit at the same time my hope may be worthless. But I propose in any case we spot for each other, watch each other's flanks if worst comes along. What do you say?"

[Ochre_Dust 329]

@ @purple.teal

 

"Wugh..." Ochre Dust shook his head and looked to the grey unicorn before him. "Wuh huh? Oh, yeah, my name is Ochre Dust. I watch your back you watch mine? I think that's pretty much what we should all be doing isn't it?" Ochre glanced to the stallion's flank briefly, and started as he saw it was blank. He briefly inspected himself, and sighed in relief as he found his cutie mark was still there. "Whew! Scared me there for a second. Aren't you a little old to not have a cutie mark?" Ochre's eyes travel over the stallion's body one more time. "Or... a little ancient to not have a cutie mark? Seriously, how old are you, Mr..."

[EcstaticWind 572]

@Everyone

 

Aegis sat down and held a hoof to his head. His whole body shuddered from the effects of that tremor and the nausea. He started running through theories on what had just happened, though each was swiftly discarded since his knowledge was limited to what he knew from Equestria.

 

"Ok, who was affected and what were the symptoms?" Aegis asked addressing everypony present before turning to the Unicorn who had been calling somepony named Aurum an imbecile. "What are your thoughts on what happened?"

 

Aegis didn't want to be a leader. That sort of thing wasn't his style. But seeing ponies live was what he wanted right now. They needed more information before they could do anything.

[purple.teal 50]

@ @Ochre_Dust

 

"I'm only 34. I just deal with a lot of stress." A thin smile is given to his new friend. A sigh. "And the blank flank... Apparently being a rebel without a cause does not constitute a talent." I had a very good cause. "But what happened before doesn't matter. What happens now is important. We've got no idea what could be around here and while it is true that the only native we have met yet has helped us, she does seem to be trying hard to impress how dangerous this place is. By her reasoning our survival chance is zero. So we have to work together. By the looks of it we now have a leader, so let's get organized."

[Ochre_Dust 329]

@ @Windbreaker

 

Ochre glanced over to the stallion, finding some resemblance of himself in the lithe figure. "It felt like some pony stuck a whisk up my nose and started twirling it in my brain. Personally I get the feeling like we were being sized up for something. If that's the case I think finding shelter is the best thing to do right now, and then worry about water."

 

@ @purple.teal

 

Returning his focus Everlast, Ochre nodded. "Agreed. I'd be able to help build shelter if we had the material, but..." Ochre kicked at the blue stone beneath them. "... There isn't exactly an abundance of materials." Ochre looked around them. "Okay, it looks like there's a lake to the north, cliffs to south and west, and... well, those spire things in the east don't look too inviting. So who here thinks we might find a cave at those cliffs to call home until we're more settled?"

[EcstaticWind 572]

'Nausea and headaches, huh? Well, that's not good. If those are just the basic symptoms, what happens when it gets worse?' Aegis thought. This world was starting to seem less and less enticing the more he thought about it. "Well, we can all agree on one thing. Shelter is our number one priority. We can decide what comes next after that. And somepony else can be leader. I'm not cut out for it."

 

He knew he probably seemed flippant and somewhat uncaring, but as far as he was concerned, there were better choices for their leader than him. That and he'd have no time to learn about Arcana if he was trying to keep this band of ponies together.

[purple.teal 50]

"Alright fine, all of our lives are on the line, we don't have time to bicker about who gets to go first. We've decided that shelter is our number one priority, but where to set up and how? The biggest reason for shelter is for defense, and the most defensible area I can see are those ridges out there." Everlast points to the cliffs in the distance.

 

"Are we all in well enough conditions to travel that distance?"