Fallout: Beyond Equestria, 77: Tragedy's End (Part 6)

[2014-03-12 13:22:12] <Little_Gloom> 3Previously in Beyond Equestria...
[2014-03-12 13:23:35] <Little_Gloom> 3Beyond the crenulated walls, the Luna Academy for Young Unicorns was one a beautiful, almost monastic village with cobblestone streets, academic towers, and a central courtyard lined with trees, boxed plants and benches facing towards an open yard with a simple yet elegant crescent moon mosaic.
[2014-03-12 13:25:11] <Little_Gloom> 3Now, a soft pink haze drifts over the rubble and across the broken walls, catching the light as the setting sun breaks through thin fissures in the clouds.
[2014-03-12 13:27:03] <Little_Gloom> 3Golden_Dream was led into this place, her friends following, by a reaper pony who folded in its wings, wrapping them about it like a black cloak, beckoned towards the school, and hopped down into the cobblestone walkways between the crumbling and Pink-infused structures.
[2014-03-12 13:30:07] <Little_Gloom> 3The group became separated from their spectral guide for a while.  In their attempts to follow, they came across several audio recordings by a griffin -- once the chaplin of Shatara's Stable -- who had come here years ago in an attempt to make contact with the mysterious entities known as the reapers.
[2014-03-12 13:31:14] <Little_Gloom> 3They also stumbled across the security station which had been connected to the Littlehorn Artillary Brigade, the collection of automated cannons that had once fired on a zebra caravan, triggering the Littlehorn Massacre.
[2014-03-12 13:32:44] <Little_Gloom> 3From there, Get_Lost activated the PA system throughout the school, coaxing an Academy Foal named Joy to gather the others in the playground.  Bookwright attempted to convince Joy to meet them, and the dead foal still might... but seems to be able to only process one mission at a time.
[2014-03-12 13:32:52] <Little_Gloom> 3The Reaper is still waiting when the group exit the alleyway and into the street.
[2014-03-12 13:32:58] <Little_Gloom> 3There are two wagons here which look to have collided, both broken and one overturned with a missing wheel, the skeletons of their pullers fused into the harnesses, the skeletons of fouls piled in the one that remains upright as if the children all tried to hug each other as the Pink Cloud got them.
[2014-03-12 13:33:24] <Little_Gloom> 3Bookwright grimaces. "This is a foul place. I will be glad to put it behind us."  He notices that his spell is picking up numerous records further up ahead.
[2014-03-12 13:33:30] <Little_Gloom> 3Noble_Heart frowns at the sight of the foal skeletons. "It is a sad place. We would give those who died here a proper funeral if We could."
[2014-03-12 13:33:35] <Little_Gloom> 3CopyCat nods sadly.
[2014-03-12 13:33:41] <Little_Gloom> 3Golden_Dream was very quiet for a moment, then proceeded to quietly trot over to the reaper. "I don't suppose I'll get any answer from you. If you could talk, ah think you'd have told us why you asked us here. But here's somethin' you can answer with a nod. Are what we're to do gonna put these folks t' rest?"
[2014-03-12 13:33:48] <Little_Gloom> 3The Reaper turns and moves up the street towards the classroom buildings, where most of the records seem to be.  As It moves, Golden_Dream notices other Reapers watching through alleyways or on rooftops, their expressions unfathomable.
[2014-03-12 13:33:54] <Little_Gloom> 3Although there is one, a Reaper whose hooves flicker with flame, who seems disapproving.  That one turns its back on the street and those in it, moving out of sight.
[2014-03-12 13:34:18] <Little_Gloom> 3Fallout: Beyond Equestria, Session Seventy-Seven: Tragedy's End (Part Six) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW5n3k2VgZE&feature=youtu.be&t=55s
[2014-03-12 13:34:34] <Little_Gloom> 3--- Session Begins ---
[2014-03-12 13:34:49] <Little_Gloom> 3Golden_Dream doesn't like the non-answer. It took more effort than it really should to avoid shouting at them, chewing them out. She tried to hold back tears, and only really succeeded in having them come down in a bigger strength. Why the fuck did this happen? Was there a reason for these foals to die? Was there a reason why they came back?
[2014-03-12 13:35:11] <Little_Gloom> 3Has she been killing innocent ponies who still wanted to live?  Would it matter if it meant her life? Was this a punishment for her, to see all this, to be forced to watch as her decisions that she felt would keep her safe and find that they would come at the cost of other ponies? How many times has she made that kind of decision without knowing?
[2014-03-12 13:43:40] * Noble_Heart frowned slightly and looked down at Golden Dream, sticking near the smaller pony. There was little she could say to ease whatever was worrying her friend for now, sadly.
[2014-03-12 13:47:13] * Bookwright is hesitant. "Um, Golden? You're the one who can see these reapers, what... ah, what are they doing? You've got lead."
[2014-03-12 13:48:59] * Golden_Dream frowns. Right. "They're all here. Watchin' us." She began to plod down the path shown. She vaguely felt the rediculousness of the situation, crying while she was walking along in what amounted to be a hamster ball.
[2014-03-12 13:48:59] * CopyCat follows Golden_Dream quietly. She could sense her friend's inner turmoil, but all she felt able to do was bite her lip.
[2014-03-12 13:49:50] * Shatara flaps experimentally to see if can fly in the ball. It was worth a shot!
[2014-03-12 13:52:21] <Little_Gloom> 3The reaper, seen only by Golden_Dream, strides towards the double doors of a large building -- its walls sag, its roof is partially collapsed in, the once-cheery mosaic of moons and stars that runs around the building has lost its luster and many of its tiles.  A sign labels the building as GIBB_US  _LASS_OOM _OMP__X.
[2014-03-12 13:53:58] * Golden_Dream wipes her tears. It was serious time now. No place that ends with an "x" ever means good news.
[2014-03-12 13:55:05] <Little_Gloom> 3There are several letters laying on the ground nearby.  Someone has lined them up to spell "corcle".  Across the double doors, an eerie glyph has been scraped out with a mixture of chalk and blood.
[2014-03-12 13:55:26] * Shatara squints at the dilapitaded sign. "...classroom complex?"
[2014-03-12 13:56:34] * Bookwright reads out loud. "Looks like it's the 'Gibbous Classroom Complex'. After the phase of the moon, see?"
[2014-03-12 13:57:18] * Noble_Heart nods in agreement to Bookwright's comments. "We would assume so. It is not a surprising thing to see for Princess Luna." She frowned slightly. "But what does 'corcle' mean?"
[2014-03-12 13:57:22] <Little_Gloom> 3Bookwright notices that the glow of his spell is picking up several records of some sort scattered in the knarled, dead wood of nearby bushes.  As they draw closer, his ears prick at the sound of a soft, steady hiss.
[2014-03-12 13:57:24] * Shatara looks at the conspicuously rearanged letters. "But what's a corcle?"
[2014-03-12 13:58:08] * Shatara whips his rifle towards the strange sound, only to clunk the muzzle embarrasingly against his bubblewall.
[2014-03-12 13:58:28] <Little_Gloom> 3Suddenly: PAIN!
[2014-03-12 13:58:28] * Bookwright "It's the part of the seed that's actually alive. The germ. The 'heart', if you will. "
[2014-03-12 13:59:13] * Golden_Dream hits the ground. Shit! "TURN THAT SHIT OFF"
[2014-03-12 13:59:56] <Little_Gloom> 3Agony tears through their nerves.  It hits Bookwright, Noble_Heart and CopyCat hardest -- the feeling of intense, unrelenting pressure on their horns, like the bone with shatter.
[2014-03-12 14:00:17] * Bookwright backs off quickly. "Augh!"
[2014-03-12 14:00:18] * CopyCat drops to the ground and screams, clutching at her head.
[2014-03-12 14:00:49] * Noble_Heart screams in surprise and pain. "Back! Back!!" She attempts to do as she suggests and back away from the school. The hidden dangers here were nothing if not painful.
[2014-03-12 14:01:01] * Shatara drops his rifle in his bubble and flails, trying to find the source desprately.
[2014-03-12 14:11:14] * CopyCat wails. "Make it stop, make it stop!"
[2014-03-12 14:11:52] * Golden_Dream looks around, trying to spot whatever the heck is causing this.
[2014-03-12 14:12:46] * Golden_Dream ... and failing that, retreats back, trying to get out of range of that horrible thing!
[2014-03-12 14:12:57] <Little_Gloom> 3Golden_Dream is unable to spot any source of the signal.  Maybe it's inside?
[2014-03-12 14:13:56] <Little_Gloom> 3Retreating, at least, brings relief, although she had to back up farther than she expected to before the pain stopped.
[2014-03-12 14:17:26] * Noble_Heart backed up as much as she had to to get out of the field of effect. She reached out with her telekinesis to try and pull her friends free of the field of effect as well, not wanting to risk them suffering worse injury.
[2014-03-12 14:21:07] <Little_Gloom> 3Noble_Heart's telekinesis grabs Shatara and Golden_Dream, dragging them further away from the structure.
[2014-03-12 14:22:27] * Bookwright backs up quickly to where Golden_Dream is standing.
[2014-03-12 14:24:31] * Bookwright focuses his magicks into his horn and casts Detect Magic. His eyes glow warm amber of a fading sunset.
[2014-03-12 14:32:50] <Little_Gloom> 3Attempting to detect the source of the broadcast through magic proves futile.  The device itself isn't magical, although the sound it creates is laced with necromancy.  Instead, Bookwright finds himself seeing low-level fields of necromancy saturating the area, the magic carried by the sound indistinguishable from the surrounding Pink...
[2014-03-12 14:34:09] <Little_Gloom> 3...further muddied by the magic aura of the shield spell he is looking through.  The only things Bookwright's spell lets him distinguish with any degree of clarity is the magical bubbles of his friends and the glyph on the school door... which itself glows with a black energy.
[2014-03-12 14:36:35] * Bookwright darts his eyes around. "...Damn, I can't see it. I guess broadcasters aren't themselves magical. The sound is, but I can't unravel it from the pink mist around us. The only interesting thing I can see is that the black mark on the door there is laced with necromantic energy."
[2014-03-12 14:36:55] <Little_Gloom> 3Shatara looks for the source of the broadcast, but cannot find it.  Perhaps it is inside?
[2014-03-12 14:38:33] * Get_Lag tries looking for the noisy thing too
[2014-03-12 14:39:40] <Little_Gloom> 3Get_Lost is hit with an epiphany: they did this.  Her and Bookwright.  They left the P.A. system on!  There must to be speakers all over in every public building and near ever gathering place, spewing out necromantic static.  But what was turned on can all be turned off.
[2014-03-12 14:41:49] * Get_Lag tells the other how smart she is. only, she's not =_=
[2014-03-12 14:42:24] * Bookwright "Wait... What? We did this to ourselves? Well, crud! Let's go back and shut the darn thing off!"
[2014-03-12 14:42:34] * Get_Lag "ah.... maybe we go backand turn off the P.A."
[2014-03-12 14:46:12] * Noble_Heart frowns, rubbing her face. "Yes. It would seem we need to fix this before we can proceed. Perhaps Joy will have finished his task by now as well..."
[2014-03-12 14:46:17] * CopyCat remains exactly where she was. Her mind shredded and scattered, she attempts to curl up into a ball. This does not help her.
[2014-03-12 14:47:20] * Noble_Heart reaches out to try and help CopyCat out of the field of death with her magic. The other alicorn couldn't be left alone! Her sister would surely die, and she would not allow that!
[2014-03-12 14:51:27] <Little_Gloom> 3Noble_Heart drags CopyCat out of the reach of the necromantic static.
[2014-03-12 14:54:09] * CopyCat looks up at Noble_Heart through her mint-green tinted shield and blinks tears out of her eyes. The voices of her friends were with her again.
[2014-03-12 14:55:10] * Bookwright sets back to the vault to shut down the PA system. "You help them recuperate, Get Lost. I'll go turn off the speakers."
[2014-03-12 14:55:26] * Get_Lag immediately moves next to copy, trying to determine if she can be helped somehow
[2014-03-12 14:55:42] * Bookwright returns some minutes later, the PA system shut down.
[2014-03-12 14:55:51] * Noble_Heart glowers in the direction of the building. She did not like this place, at all.
[2014-03-12 14:57:14] * Golden_Dream looks at Copycat, looming over her. Tears had stopped falling when adrenaline got put into the equation. "Copycat... Folks, I-I'm real sorry for getting ya'll stuck here."
[2014-03-12 15:00:47] * CopyCat manages a smile. "I'm okay now, Get_Lag, really. It's just when we're close to those... things. I don't like them."
[2014-03-12 15:01:54] * Get_Lag frowns, not teally sure that the alicorn is really okay, but doesn't insist "does anypony feel weird or sick?"
[2014-03-12 15:02:38] * Golden_Dream shakes her head to clear up her vision. She's been doing that a lot recently. "Ah'm fine 'till we get outta here." She noted.
[2014-03-12 15:03:59] * Bookwright "Um, I think I got poisoned by the pink stuff earlier. I'm a little fatigued."
[2014-03-12 15:05:55] * Noble_Heart frowns slightly. "The problems we face here are dangerous indeed. But there is no doubt in Our mind that this is a place We need to explore. What that griffin was doing here, and why, is something worth finding. Before darker forces choose to take advantage of it."
[2014-03-12 15:07:18] * Bookwright "Golden? Where do we go now?"
[2014-03-12 15:08:19] * Golden_Dream points back at the "x" ending building. "Well, ah lead us there before th' thing went off. I figure we gotta go there."
[2014-03-12 15:11:37] * Golden_Dream , this time more cautiously, starts heading back to the complex. "Ah' hate bein' right." She noted, looking resigned.
[2014-03-12 15:12:05] * CopyCat nods her head and gets to her hooves. "I agree, Golden_Dream."
[2014-03-12 15:12:51] * Golden_Dream looks up. "About us goin there or about nothin' good comin' out of places that end with 'x'es?"
[2014-03-12 15:13:55] * Noble_Heart looks at the building and frowns, moving up towards it slowly.
[2014-03-12 15:15:48] * CopyCat tilts her head. "Um, both actually."
[2014-03-12 15:22:00] * Bookwright approaches the necromantic sigil. "I don't really know what's going to happen when I open this door. Probably nothing, but here goes." He tries it with telekinesis.
[2014-03-12 15:25:10] <Little_Gloom> 3The door opens with some effort, one of the hinges threatening to tear from the crumbling doorframe. Inside, hallways stretch left and right, with doors leading to classrooms.  Between each door, the walls are adorned with photographs, yellowed and worn in pink-stained frames, of foals who attended classes in these rooms.  Class pictures, it would seem.
[2014-03-12 15:26:28] <Little_Gloom> 3The floors, while rotting, are clean, save for debris from the ceiling.  No scattered books or toys. .
[2014-03-12 15:26:30] * Get_Lag mutters something sad under her breath, her ears flatten on the metal helmet
[2014-03-12 15:27:55] <Little_Gloom> 3The mark on the door seems to press against Shatara's mind, alien yet familiar -- with meaning and power that almost beg to be deciphered.
[2014-03-12 15:28:18] * Bookwright decides to do what he should have done in the first place. "Hold one, I'm going to cast my record location spell again. At full power."
[2014-03-12 15:28:30] * Bookwright quiets his mind, and whispers words of power.
[2014-03-12 15:28:42] * Noble_Heart looks back and forth across the abandoned hallways and bows her head briefly. "We must wonder what purpose this reaper has in calling Us here."
[2014-03-12 15:29:07] * Golden_Dream just hung her head when she peered in. "Can't this place ever stop being this relentlessly bleak?" Then again, she knew this wasn't going to be a walk in the park when she got stuck with it. She crept into the hallway. "Probably where they live." She muttered spitefully.
[2014-03-12 15:29:23] * Bookwright smiles as he opens his eyes again. "Ahh, this spell is much easier to sustain."
[2014-03-12 15:30:27] * CopyCat peers at the class photos through her shield. "Do they have names to go with the pictures? We might even be able to find the foal we saw on the monitors."
[2014-03-12 15:31:33] <Little_Gloom> 3Many points of light flare up around Bookwright.  A cluster of records just outside the door in the bushes.  Sporadic records in formations that suggest shelves and desks.  A few large, rectangular glows that Bookwright is certain are chalkboards.
[2014-03-12 15:32:03] <Little_Gloom> 3Each photograph has a name.  There are... so many of them.
[2014-03-12 15:33:56] * Bookwright now has a sense of the layout of the building! "Mm, knew that was a good idea. There are classrooms over there, there and there... chalkboards. Look at all those photographs. All those students... This place surely was an atrocity."
[2014-03-12 15:34:14] <Little_Gloom> 3As Golden_Dream mounts the steps, she catches a glimpse of something and looks over into the bushes.  She spots the records Bookwright had been noticing, but that isn't what caught her eye.
[2014-03-12 15:34:34] * Noble_Heart frowns. "Is there anything else We should be looking for?" She glances up and down towards the halls.
[2014-03-12 15:35:47] * Bookwright "Presumably, whatever Golden's silent friend wants us to find."
[2014-03-12 15:36:09] * Bookwright blinks. "Er. Sorry, that wasn't very helpful, was it?"
[2014-03-12 15:36:09] <Little_Gloom> 3A little castle has been build behind the dead bushes.  The three audio logs are mixed in with blocks.  There is a little toy pony on the top, standing vigil against the toy zebras placed in the bushes.
[2014-03-12 15:37:00] <Little_Gloom> 3Two healing potions are substituting as the castle towers.
[2014-03-12 15:39:11] * Bookwright notices Golden_Dream's distractedness. "Ah, Golden Dream? What is it?"
[2014-03-12 15:39:21] * Noble_Heart pauses and looks in Golden Dreams' direction as the smaller pony is waiting. "Find something interesting?"
[2014-03-12 15:39:23] * Golden_Dream starts wandering towards the little castle, frowning a little. She occasionally felt bad for looting stuff off of dead bodies. This was different, though. Why, she couldn't really pinpoint, but she felt sick looking at it.
[2014-03-12 15:40:15] * Golden_Dream looms over it a bit, seemingly lost in a bout of melancholy.
[2014-03-12 15:40:58] * Get_Lag takes a look  around "this place is clean, well kept.... girls. keep your eyes open, maybe we're not alone... anything bleeping on your pipbucks?"
[2014-03-12 15:47:27] * CopyCat nods at Get_Lag but she seems most curious about what Golden_Dream had found.
[2014-03-12 15:48:23] * Get_Lag starts tinkering with her helmet, mutering stuff about having to do things herself
[2014-03-12 15:53:50] * Golden_Dream sighs, then hung her head. "This happened after th' cloud went down." She muttered.
[2014-03-12 15:54:12] <Little_Gloom> 3Shatara also noticed the little castle.
[2014-03-12 15:54:33] * Noble_Heart moves forwards, tilting her head to one side. "What did?"
[2014-03-12 15:55:02] <Little_Gloom> 3The healing potions looked odd, partially because the bottles were white with pre-Peace hospital symbols.
[2014-03-12 15:55:19] * CopyCat ponders aloud. "The same foal from before, do you think?"
[2014-03-12 15:56:01] <Little_Gloom> 3Partially because the Pink has fused the lids to the bottles.  The contents are probably safe, but the bottles will have to be broken to get at the healing liquid inside.
[2014-03-12 15:58:26] *memoserv* Kkat has read your memo, which was sent at Mar 12 22:55:17 2014
[2014-03-12 15:58:44] * Golden_Dream sighs. "I don't wanna think about it."
[2014-03-12 15:58:56] * Golden_Dream realizes she sighs a lot.
[2014-03-12 15:59:06] * Get_Lag taps her chin "maybe, but the door was closed and it broke when we tried opening it, so... maybe something else did it... something livin here since the incident"
[2014-03-12 15:59:47] * Golden_Dream gulps. "Bookie. We got records. Just... Get the fuckin' potions." She muttered.
[2014-03-12 16:00:33] * Bookwright collects the potions, and swipes the recording modules too.
[2014-03-12 16:01:35] * Bookwright peers at them. "These aren't marked. So I'm just going to play one at random." Choosing one by eeny-meeny-miney-moe, he slots it into the playback device and plays it.
[2014-03-12 16:01:49] * Noble_Heart frowns. "This construct could not have been old. The recordings have likely not been here long." She moves up the stairs towards the school building. "Someone is still active in the ruins."
[2014-03-12 16:04:11] * Get_Lag nods and keeps looking around
[2014-03-12 16:07:11] <Little_Gloom> 3Once more, the now-familiar voice of the former chaplin of Shatari's Stable greats their ears.
[2014-03-12 16:08:10] <Little_Gloom> 3(Thank you, Scorch_Mechanic! https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/62984274/tape_5.mp3)
[2014-03-12 16:08:18] <Little_Gloom> 3---oooOOOooo---
[2014-03-12 16:08:25] <Little_Gloom> 3If all I am good for is to barter with those beyond this life – those above or below us – then perhaps I can barter for the skills to be a force in this wasted world rather than just a shadow.
[2014-03-12 16:08:36] <Little_Gloom> 3Ghosts do not bargain, and unlike the zebras, I cannot touch the world of spirits within the realm of life.  But… what if there were spirits in the realm of death?  The zebras traffic with spirits of life; could there not be spirits of death as well?
[2014-03-12 16:08:47] <Little_Gloom> 3Just because the zebras know of no such things does not mean they are not real – perhaps they merely exist in the realm that zebras cannot touch, but that I can?  Wouldn’t that be part and partial of their very nature?
[2014-03-12 16:08:56] <Little_Gloom> 3I intend to discover if my suspicions are true.  And, if so, to make contact.  My new obsession is more than fancy; it is grounded in the religion and mythology of every known sentient species.  All have their tails of reapers – reaper ponies, reaper zebras… even we have our tales of skeletal guides to the afterlife, dark wings in the final night.
[2014-03-12 16:09:04] <Little_Gloom> 3And there is something out there that ghosts are afraid of.
[2014-03-12 16:09:12] <Little_Gloom> 3But where to look?
[2014-03-12 16:09:28] <Little_Gloom> 3I reason that the most qualified to inform and guide me would be the ghost of a zebra shaman.  Who else has touched both worlds as fully?  Granted, I have not encountered any such ghost before, but I know where I might look.  The Lunar Military established several internment camps for zebra prisoners of war.
[2014-03-12 16:09:39] <Little_Gloom> 3I have learned that such “social re-adjustment” camps existed in Stalliongrad and in Froggy Bottom Bog… and, supposedly, in the fabled city of the Crystal Empire.
[2014-03-12 16:09:47] <Little_Gloom> 3One is considerably closer than the others.
[2014-03-12 16:09:56] <Little_Gloom> 3---oooOOOooo---
[2014-03-12 16:13:24] * Golden_Dream scratches at the shield a little with her hoof. "... Next one?"
[2014-03-12 16:17:03] * Bookwright nods, and puts in the next randomly chosen module, hitting play.
[2014-03-12 16:18:32] <Little_Gloom> 3This time, the griffin is speaking in a rough near-whisper, his voice filled with fear and awe.
[2014-03-12 16:18:54] <Little_Gloom> 3(Again, thank you Scorch_Mechanic!  You are awesome.  https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/62984274/tape_6.mp3 )
[2014-03-12 16:19:02] <Little_Gloom> 3---oooOOOooo---
[2014-03-12 16:19:07] <Little_Gloom> 3They’re here!
[2014-03-12 16:19:15] <Little_Gloom> 3The story tells that when Littlepip first saw the Canterlot ghoul, Lionheart, she mistook him for a reaper pony.  Seeing them for myself, I can understand her mistake, and yet the truth of them is so much grander and more terrifying than she imagined.
[2014-03-12 16:19:22] <Little_Gloom> 3The journey was perilous, between the Enclave and the cold, but it was worth every struggle.  The old zebra’s ghost was right.  The ruins of Luna’s old school is crawling with reapers.
[2014-03-12 16:19:30] <Little_Gloom> 3---oooOOOooo---
[2014-03-12 16:20:06] * Golden_Dream doesn't look impressed. No shit, preacher bird.
[2014-03-12 16:21:23] * Golden_Dream looks up and sighs. "Last one."
[2014-03-12 16:21:56] * Bookwright puts in the last one, almost reverently, and plays it.
[2014-03-12 16:23:14] <Little_Gloom> 3Once more, the voice speaks, calmer now.
[2014-03-12 16:23:27] <Little_Gloom> 3(Yay Scorch! https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/62984274/tape_7.mp3 )
[2014-03-12 16:23:38] <Little_Gloom> 3---oooOOOooo---
[2014-03-12 16:23:48] <Little_Gloom> 3My forays into the ruins have been, by necessity, intense and brief.  There is Pink Cloud here – thin, blanketing the scholastic villa like a weak mist – but deadly all the same.  I cannot fathom why it lingers.  The weapon that killed this place, while terrible, was no megaspell; there is no dragon here to breathe it.
[2014-03-12 16:23:58] <Little_Gloom> 3The mystery, however, must wait until I can find a sanctuary within the school where I may rest and attempt to communicate with the resident Reapers.
[2014-03-12 16:24:16] <Little_Gloom> 3They pay no attention to me, save for the one with the burning hooves, who yesterday followed some distance behind me as I flew out of the Pink Mist, gasping for good air.  But it did not follow beyond the academy’s decayed wall.
[2014-03-12 16:24:22] <Little_Gloom> 3They are not as… homogenous as they first appear.  I can now distinguish a few from the others from differences in behavior or physical appearance -- the one whose hooves crackle with fire, the one who turns its wings into a cloak, the one with the shattered horn.
[2014-03-12 16:24:45] <Little_Gloom> 3My musings wax poetic.  What draws them here?  Why haunt these toppled towers and decaying dormitories?  Why does death incarnate still trod spectral hooves over cracked cobblestones and crumbling crenulations?
[2014-03-12 16:24:52] <Little_Gloom> 3So many of the dark, skeletal death-spirits haunt this place where none have lived for centuries.  Certainly, Luna’s Academy for Young Unicorns was a place of world-felt tragedy.  But with the scope of the war and the wasteland that followed, it is unfathomable that…
[2014-03-12 16:24:59] <Little_Gloom> 3...
[2014-03-12 16:25:01] <Little_Gloom> 3...
[2014-03-12 16:25:08] <Little_Gloom> 3That was close!  There are things that dwell and shuffle here other than the Reapers!
[2014-03-12 16:25:16] <Little_Gloom> 3---oooOOOooo---
[2014-03-12 16:26:09] * CopyCat frowns. "Scary not-reapers too? Oh dear..."
[2014-03-12 16:26:49] * Noble_Heart nods her head. "We would assume that it was his first meeting with one of the ghouls that live in this place. Before he made his bargain."
[2014-03-12 16:26:56] * Get_Lag thinks "maybe these reapers are simply here to collect the souls of the trapped fooals?"
[2014-03-12 16:29:23] * Bookwright "That would seem to be the case. Power for service, remember?"
[2014-03-12 16:29:30] * Shatara believes has suggested that.
[2014-03-12 16:30:46] * Noble_Heart nods again. "Yes. That is indeed what the recordings imply. But We wonder what the purpose of these runes are, in that case." she gestured towards the door with its mark of power. "Some spell meant to liberate all the souls in the city at once? It makes Us wonder if perhaps there were many reapers in Canterlot as well, invisible to those who traveled or resided there."
[2014-03-12 16:32:03] * Shatara has also identified them as gryphon in origin, and obscene.
[2014-03-12 16:32:51] * Golden_Dream immediately says. "Probably talkin' 'bout th' ghouls, Copycat." She sighs, then starts to cautiously creep down the halls. When Noble made that point, her fur stood up on end. "... We need t' get moving. The sooner we can find whatever, th' sooner we can fuckin' leave and maybe kick this guy in th' balls."
[2014-03-12 16:34:39] * CopyCat looks over at Shatara, curiously. "These are griffin symbols, right? Do they say anything to you, Shatara? How do they make you feel?"
[2014-03-12 16:35:10] * Noble_Heart frowns and moves along behind Golden Dream. "We suspect that We are much too late to exact any revenge upon the griffin responsible. We passed what was likely his remains on Our way in, where We found the first recording."
[2014-03-12 16:36:43] * Golden_Dream narrows her reddened and puffy eyes. "I said maybe."
[2014-03-12 16:38:13] * Shatara sighs and looks at one. "They're just...wrong..."
[2014-03-12 16:40:03] * Get_Lag "so... how do we get them free?"
[2014-03-12 16:42:33] <Little_Gloom> 3Shatara's words trail off as he staress at the symbol.
[2014-03-12 16:47:24] * Shatara seems to come back like a resumed recording. "I don't know if you noticed, but the one before me is *dead*"...
[2014-03-12 16:48:09] * Noble_Heart blinks and frowns, looking towards Shatara curiously at the pause. She furrowed her brows at that odd comment. "More bargains?"
[2014-03-12 16:49:26] <Little_Gloom> 3Golden_Dream catches movement.  One of the reapers, the one with the burning hooves, has been standing on a nearby rooftop, staring down at the group. But it is already turning and leaving by the time it is spotted.
[2014-03-12 16:50:05] * CopyCat tilts her head. "Are you alright Shatara? You were staring off for a minute."
[2014-03-12 16:50:55] * Shatara sighs. "So it seems. What kinda guy is turned on by vauge promises of power that require questionable actions and come with equally vauge strings?"
[2014-03-12 16:51:59] * Golden_Dream spots a reaper. "I think one of them's tryin' t' get t' you, Shatara." She seems to be stricken with a bit of horror. "Shatara, whatever you do, do not make any deals or let him get close t' you or take over you. Alright?"
[2014-03-12 16:52:38] * CopyCat nods. "We like our Shatara just the way he is."
[2014-03-12 16:55:10] * Bookwright "Clearly, this former chaplain is more easily tempted. We should be on our guard."
[2014-03-12 16:56:34] * Noble_Heart frowns and looks to the ground sadly. "One who is desperate to not be left behind. Or to prove their worth." She turned towards the hallways. "We suggest that We continue to find out what We can. With luck, it may become clear the difference between these reapers."
[2014-03-12 16:57:43] * Golden_Dream continues down the hallway, trying to find maybe where that ghost thing was.
[2014-03-12 16:59:10] * CopyCat turns to the others. "Do you think we could change those sybols into something nicer? Draw smiley faces on them maybe."
[2014-03-12 17:00:27] * Golden_Dream gives a grim chuckle at that. "Prolly a bad idea. Touching anything ya'll don't really understand, but know is bad juju tends t' be."
[2014-03-12 17:01:32] * Get_Lag studies the symbol for a moment "maybe it only works on catbirds?"
[2014-03-12 17:01:51] <Little_Gloom> 3It doesn't take long.  Passing by an open doorway, Golden_Dream spots the cloaked reaper standing between semi-circular rows of desks in a large classroom.  When Golden_Dream looks in, the reaper points its horn towards one of the desks.
[2014-03-12 17:02:33] * Golden_Dream gulps. This is it. "... Open that desk, somepony. This is it."
[2014-03-12 17:03:07] * Get_Lag folllows the others "hey, kid... i was thnking... zebras see spirits, you see spirits... there was a zebra camp in the swamp you're from.... maybe you have some zebra ancestors?"
[2014-03-12 17:03:15] * Bookwright steps forwards gingerly and pops open the top of the desk.
[2014-03-12 17:03:27] * Get_Lag goes checking the desk "sure"
[2014-03-12 17:05:04] <Little_Gloom> 3This room is full of little lights in Bookwright's eyes.  About one in every thirty books on the shelves still retains enough legibility and content to qualify as records.   The foals' desks are the sort with a flip-top and space inside to store things.  Many of them show as having records as well -- textbooks, school reports, and more.
[2014-03-12 17:06:50] * Golden_Dream doesn't break sight of the desk. "Doubt it. Both my parents 'cept for mom's dad came from above th' cloud ceiling."
[2014-03-12 17:07:09] <Little_Gloom> 3A chalkboard in the classroom glows for Bookwright as well, the aged board announcing a spelling test on Tuesday and "Friendship Reports" due on Friday.
[2014-03-12 17:07:35] * Noble_Heart frowns, looking around the classroom briefly. She sighs quietly and looks towards the desk indicated, curious as to what Bookwright might find within.
[2014-03-12 17:09:07] * Golden_Dream looks relieved. Good. No horrible artifact of death and destruction. She looked at the blackboard. "Did they actually teach friendship in classes back before th' bombs fell...?"
[2014-03-12 17:09:47] <Little_Gloom> 3As Get_Lost approaches, she can see several of the desks are malformed, and the undersides of the desks twisted and strange as the contents inside attempted to melt through them.  The desk that Golden_Dream directs her to is no different.  It is a small miracle that the desk opens as easily as it does when she sees the inside.
[2014-03-12 17:12:58] <Little_Gloom> 3The contents of the desk -- schoolbooks, papers, quills and ink... even a stuffed toy alligator and a family photo -- are all fused together and partially sunken into the desk itself.
[2014-03-12 17:14:01] <Little_Gloom> 3Amidst all this is the shiny surface of a memory orb.  The orb itself, as best Get_Lost can tell, is undamaged.  But the contents of the desk around it have welded it into place.
[2014-03-12 17:15:48] * Get_Lag "pop quiz: what happens to a unicorn that stares into a probably damaged memory orb?"
[2014-03-12 17:16:34] * Bookwright "Horrors, physical sickness. It's very, very unpleasant."
[2014-03-12 17:16:40] * Noble_Heart frowns and taps her chin. "That depends on how the orb is damaged. It could cause severe mental disturbances, or worse, potentially. We would wonder what a school child was doing with a memory orb, and what about it might be so important."
[2014-03-12 17:17:33] * Get_Lag "so.... looking into it is a bad idea or a VERy bad idea?"
[2014-03-12 17:22:52] * Noble_Heart contemplates that briefly and frowns. "We would bear the burden Ourselves. But maintaining a shield while within a memory orb is impossible. It would be best if Bookwright were the one to watch the contents. As CopyCat maintains his shield."
[2014-03-12 17:24:11] * CopyCat swallows. "I could look. I should be able to share what I see with all of you. If it turns out to be bad... then I won't be able to share it anyway. It would drop the shields though."
[2014-03-12 17:24:32] * Get_Lag "i guess leaving it there is out of question? can i at least be in his same bubble, so that i can act quickly if there are problems?"
[2014-03-12 17:24:40] * Bookwright "I, ah, suppose so. But I'd rather view it in the safety of the bunker, and I think I can get it free."
[2014-03-12 17:25:20] * Bookwright "I can make the whole desk unsolid. Assuming the orb isn't welded to any part of it, it would drop free."
[2014-03-12 17:25:46] * Golden_Dream looks at Bookwright. "Wouldn't that count as makin' magical contact?"
[2014-03-12 17:26:50] * Bookwright shakes his head. "Nope. I'd only be affecting the desk and its contents, which are probably a solid mass by now. The only question is one of hardness. If the stuff is too tough, it might be harder or even impossible to free the orb by phasing the stuff around it."
[2014-03-12 17:27:31] * Golden_Dream comes to a horrifying realization. "I don't think your plan's gonna really work, Bookie. Not unless Copycat lets down the shield anyway.
[2014-03-12 17:27:34] * Get_Lag "if the gobe is part of the desk there will be trouble..."
[2014-03-12 17:28:02] * CopyCat bites her lip. The group's curiosity was building...
[2014-03-12 17:29:22] <Little_Gloom> 3The reaper, meanwhile, stands there silently, pointing.  Visible to none but Golden_Dream.
[2014-03-12 17:29:40] * Golden_Dream sits down. "Makin' magical contact is all that needs t' happen fer ya'll to get sucked in, right? Well, I'm guessin' these shields are magical. So if ya'll do it, ya'll best make damn sure it doesn't touch the shield."
[2014-03-12 17:31:11] * Bookwright "I promise to be careful."
[2014-03-12 17:32:08] * Bookwright steps up to the desk in question and focuses his magic. It squirts from his horn to the desk like a puff of steam.
[2014-03-12 17:33:11] * Golden_Dream raises a hoof. "Not my problem with yer plan! How are we going to carry it there?"
[2014-03-12 17:33:56] <Little_Gloom> 3The magic touches the desk, spreading over and down it.  Into it and over everything that is part of it.  Bookwright watches as the magic spreads out from the table, realizing belatedly that the table has become welded to the floor...
[2014-03-12 17:36:50] * Bookwright "Oh. OH! Everypony step back. Far back, please."
[2014-03-12 17:37:05] * Golden_Dream does so.
[2014-03-12 17:37:25] * CopyCat flaps her wings, hovering slighty in the air, her eyes still on the orb.
[2014-03-12 17:37:28] * Get_Lag says "what?"
[2014-03-12 17:37:50] * Golden_Dream attempts to bump into Get's bubble and get her out of the way.
[2014-03-12 17:38:36] * Noble_Heart blinks, spreading her wings and lifting off into the air. Even just a little bit should be enough. She reaches out with her magic to levitate the others, even that many shouldn't be too hard. And just as much as 'not fall' would be fine. "We can catch you. Someone needs to stop the orb!"
[2014-03-12 17:40:02] <Little_Gloom> 3...Then a blast of magical feedback!  Before Bookwright himself can step back, the magic washes over the memory orb, revealing that it has indeed been fused to the rest of the desk.  There is a seering pain, even as Bookright (and several nearby desks) fall through the floor into the basement below.
[2014-03-12 17:40:47] * CopyCat shakes her head, as if she had just dozed off. "What? Oh, the orb. Don't worry, I'll get-" She starts to say as the whole thing falls. "Oh..."
[2014-03-12 17:41:26] * Shatara facetalons. It's almost as if these orbs were designed to be as hazardous to their users as possible...
[2014-03-12 17:46:52] <Little_Gloom> 3The desk with the orb in it stays where it is, becoming intangible but still considered part of the floor.  It is only the desks nearby which were not fused to the floor, and Bookwright, who fell into the unknown space below.  The magical feedback also serves to kill the spell -- and the floor and desk become solid again.
[2014-03-12 17:48:21] * Noble_Heart looks down at the floor in shock and fear. "Bookwright!" She beats her wings. "There must be a stairwell down into the basement somewhere. We must find it before something finds him!"
[2014-03-12 17:49:37] * CopyCat looks down at the patch of floor where Bookwright used to be. "Bookwright most have been really serious about getting to the bottom of this."
[2014-03-12 17:50:43] <Little_Gloom> 3Noble_Heart is deftly catches Get_Lost, everyone else managing to fly or dive back.
[2014-03-12 17:53:00] <Little_Gloom> 3Bookwright, meanwhile, isn't where he is at all.  After the initial surge of agony -- and a garbled flood of sounds, smells and tastes -- the memory magic asserts itself, and Bookwright is in the past.
[2014-03-12 17:54:29] <Little_Gloom> 3CopyCat finds herself seeing what Bookwright is seeing through the telepathic link she maintains with him, the experience overlaying itself across her actual senses in a most disconcerting fashion.
[2014-03-12 17:54:32] * Golden_Dream starts bolting out, reaper be damned. That stupid pony, why doesn't he ever fucking listen to reason, the obsessed jackass!
[2014-03-12 17:55:03] * CopyCat looks around like a meerkat. "Ah, I'm seeing double again!"
[2014-03-12 17:55:36] <Little_Gloom> 3Golden_Dream is too the door when she hears the deep, echoy not-voice.  >> Save them. <<
[2014-03-12 17:56:07] <Little_Gloom> 3--- End of Session ---