House Call

[2014-06-07 16:48:05] <CrystalDM> 03====FoECrystal: Side Session====
[2014-06-07 16:48:26] <Emerald_Blitz> Pulling an abrupt about-face, Emerald turns back and pokes her head into the diner. "Say, I don't suppose you know where miss Clue's parents live, do you?" the alicorn asks the diner mare.
[2014-06-07 16:50:02] <CrystalDM> 03Dawn smiles and nods. "Yeah, I can give you directions. Just be sure to bring your appetite when you go over! Scarlet's always cooking something." The older mare gives directions to Emerald_Blitz, emphasizing that Emerald will know when she gets to the proper house. "Its the only one with the white picket fence and those silly gnomes. Can't miss it!"
[2014-06-07 16:51:52] * Emerald_Blitz smirks. "Never could stand those creepy gnomes. Thank you!" she says to Dawn, then flies along the route described, passing the town in its first stages of readying available defenses. Soon after, she alights in front of a surprisingly white fence, pushes it open and walks up to the door. The alicorn adjusts her hat and coat to present proper decorum, and knocks on the door.
[2014-06-07 16:58:28] <CrystalDM> 03There is some shuffling inside, and soon an older earth pony mare with a white coat and a deep, scarlet mane comes to the door. She is wearing a flour-coated apron, and her mane is bouncing in large curls. "Oh my! I wasn't expecting a visit from a Princess! Do come in! I have chocolate chip oatmeal cookies in the oven, they'll be right out!" The mare gestures for the alicorn to come in...
[2014-06-07 16:58:28] <CrystalDM> ...and darts back into the house.
[2014-06-07 16:58:37] <CrystalDM> 03Meanwhile, the garden gnomes... are watching...
[2014-06-07 17:00:17] * Emerald_Blitz makes a 'yeeesh' face at the gnomes and steps inside. "Oh, don't trouble yourself on my account, madam," Emerald says politely, then chuckles. "But miss Dawn did warn me that you have a penchant for feeding your guests. I'm actually here about your daughter, Clue..." The alicorn looks around the house, analyzing and cataloguing. Strange how psychoanalysis is so much easier these days...
[2014-06-07 17:10:15] <CrystalDM> 03The house's walls seem to have been converted into things to hold odd knick-knacks and pictures. The living room is the first room that's entered, and it has a few couches, a large coffee table with a photo album sitting on it, and a bookshelf in the back.
[2014-06-07 17:12:08] <CrystalDM> 03"Oh, you're one of Clue's friends! Oooh, its been so long since any of them have visited. Make yourself at home while I get these cookies out of the oven!"
[2014-06-07 17:13:26] * Emerald_Blitz sits down next to the couch and idly flips open the photo album. "My name is Emerald Blitz," the alicorn says as she begins perusing photos. "Clue mentioned it had been a while since she had seen you, which I thought was silly, given that you live scarcely a few block from one another. I thought I'd drop in and ask a few questions, if it's not too much trouble..."
[2014-06-07 17:21:22] <CrystalDM> 03The photo album is filled with family photos. Its primarily focused on a younger Scarlet, a young unicorn stallion with a mustard yellow coat and green mane, and countless photos of a Clue in various stages of her life.
[2014-06-07 17:21:46] <CrystalDM> 03The stallion is wearing a guards uniform, and slowly seems to collect more scars as times goes on.
[2014-06-07 17:22:27] <CrystalDM> 03"Oh, no problem at all dearie." The mare walks back in and is holding a small basket of cookies. "Would you like one? They're fresh from the oven!"
[2014-06-07 17:25:02] <Emerald_Blitz> "Yes please," Emerald says, magically lifting one of the fresh cookies from the plate. "I see your daughter has been adorable through all stages of her life, not just the current one," she adds, and nibbles the cookie. "You know, it's literally been a pair of centuries since I last had a fresh-baked cookie... and this was certainly worth the wait."
[2014-06-07 17:25:59] * Emerald_Blitz flips toward the end of the album, with the reasonable fear that the yellow unicorn will disappear from the photos...
[2014-06-07 17:26:46] <CrystalDM> 03Indeed! The cookie is bursting with flavor. Almost like Emerald had got it fresh from one of Canterlot's bakeries. Even the chocolate tastes rich, and the oatmeal adds just the right amount of chewiness.
[2014-06-07 17:28:19] <CrystalDM> 03The yellow stallion doesn't disappear from the photo album, just gathering more scars as he gains age. Clue is a more interesting tale, though. She, when younger, is an adorable little foal. Many pictures of her are with several other young ponies, griffins, and zebras. However, as time goes by, she has less and less strangers in the photos...
[2014-06-07 17:29:02] <CrystalDM> 03"Really? Oh, that's so sad! What other things have you missed out on?" The scarlet mare (Scarlet?) seems genuinely concerned.
[2014-06-07 17:32:32] <Emerald_Blitz> "Most of the last two centuries," Emerald says. "My last memories were of the day the missiles stuck Equestria. I had... important business to attend to, and then... I woke up here. You must have heard about the Princess in the medical ward." She waggles a wing. "Present. I'm sorry Clue didn't have time to introduce us." She stands up and offers the mare a hoof. "Captain Emerald Blitz. Your...
[2014-06-07 17:32:33] <Emerald_Blitz> ...daughter's friends in this album; I haven't seen them about. Have they moved away, or...?"
[2014-06-07 17:34:37] <CrystalDM> 03The mare takes a hoof and shakes it. "Scarlet, dear. Some of them did. The others are just busy; you know how folk are." The mare chuckles and shakes her head. "Oh, have you had lunch yet? Let me get you something!" The mare trots off to the kitchen. "And its no trouble! Mustard is going to be home for lunch anyway. Oh, its so good to have one of Clue's friends over again!"
[2014-06-07 17:38:31] * Emerald_Blitz smiles. "Oh, no, I... well, I suppose if you..." She folds her wings and chuckles. Mothers. "Clue must get her caring nature from you, Scarlet. When properly motivated, she's incredibly kind and generous. Sometimes." The alicorn frowns. "She's having some trouble with out expedition, and I was hoping you could shed some light on it. I had originally thought she was just shy, but..."
[2014-06-07 17:38:47] <Emerald_Blitz> *our expedition
[2014-06-07 17:39:41] <CrystalDM> 03"But what, dear? Is everything ok? Oh, do you have any allergies?" The sound of a fridge opening and glass and metal being shuffled around can be heard.
[2014-06-07 17:42:35] <Emerald_Blitz> "No, I..." Emerald chuckles. "Not that I am aware of. I used to have an allergy to coconuts, but that may have changed, and I doubt there are many coconuts about these days anyway. Even some harmful things don't hurt me anymore, such as radiation." The alicorn looks at the picture where Clue has the most friends and examines it closer. "Everything is working well enough. Your daughter is an...
[2014-06-07 17:42:37] <Emerald_Blitz> ...excellent scout but has a tendency to put herself in danger or wander off. I think it's to protect her new friends, but it's a worrisome tendency. She helped us save a wounded mare and her foal today, so you have much to be proud of her for." Emerald pauses. "And aside from the approaching army, which your husband will no doubt have heard about already, everything has gone more or less...
[2014-06-07 17:42:38] <Emerald_Blitz> ...smoothly."
[2014-06-07 17:46:49] <CrystalDM> 03"An approaching army! Oh! Who would be attacking us? The bandits and the raiders have always been a problem, but an army!" The alarmed mare continues to work in the kitchen.
[2014-06-07 17:47:21] <CrystalDM> 03The photos with Clue and the most friends is very early on in life. Maybe about the age where she would be going to kindergarden?
[2014-06-07 17:49:15] <Emerald_Blitz> "Artifically created mutant animals," Emerald says. "Don't fret, the Steel Rangers will be here to defend your city, as will myself and the others of Clue's friends. So long as you stay out of the line of fire, it shouldn't be too bad, I imagine." The alicorn sighs. "Does Clue talk much about her friends, or their departure from her life? She lives alone and didn't have pictures of them at...
[2014-06-07 17:49:17] <Emerald_Blitz> ...her apartment."
[2014-06-07 17:51:11] <CrystalDM> 03"No, I'm afraid not. She was always a quiet child, taking after her father." The mare sighs and comes back out with a tray of... how did she have time to make sandwiches, fresh, hot pasta AND backed potatoes? She was only gone for 5 minutes, tops!
[2014-06-07 17:53:49] * Emerald_Blitz blinks. "Your husband must have some appetite," Emerald says, mildly surprised. "At any rate, Clue has shown signs of what I at first assumed to be neglect, but... now that I've seen her home life and childhood, I'm somewhat puzzled." The alicorn takes half a sandwich and nibbles on it. Yet again, delicious. "You have a prodigious talent with cooking, madam," Emerald says. "Staggering. How...
[2014-06-07 17:53:51] * Emerald_Blitz ...in Equestria did you manage that in five minutes?"
[2014-06-07 17:58:36] <CrystalDM> 03Scarlet smiles. "Oh, just a few tricks I picked up over the years. We'd always thought..." The mare is interrupted by the front door opening, and an older mustard-yellow stallion walks in. He is wearing a guard uniform and an old army hat, and his rank identifies him as a sergeant. "Scarlet, I'm..." The stallion looks over at Emerald in surprise. "Scarlet, I didn't know we were having...
[2014-06-07 17:58:36] <CrystalDM> ...guests." The stallion looks extremely tired, and is speaking with a soft voice.
[2014-06-07 18:00:08] * Emerald_Blitz stands up. "Apologies for the inconvenience," she says, offering the stallion a hoof. "Captain Emerald Blitz. I dropped in to ask a few questions about my friend, Clue."
[2014-06-07 18:01:09] <CrystalDM> 03The stallion smiles, saluting Emerald. "Drill Sergeant Mustard, Crossing Guard. Pleasure to meet you, ma'am."
[2014-06-07 18:04:16] * Emerald_Blitz salutes as well. "At ease, Sergeant, I'm not a captain in your guard. I'm old Equestrian military, and my rank has ceased to have any other purpose than to define who I am." She turns back to Scarlet. "Always thought your daughter would be filling this house with energetic foals one day, I assume?" the alicorn asks. "I was an only child, but my mother was always prepared to host an entire...
[2014-06-07 18:04:17] * Emerald_Blitz ...passel if need be..."
[2014-06-07 18:07:14] <CrystalDM> 03Scarlet smiles wistfully and nods. "Yes... I'd hope she'd meet some nice young stallion and settle down but..." Mustard walks over and gives the mare a hug before taking a sandwich.
[2014-06-07 18:08:46] <Emerald_Blitz> "That's even more puzzling," Emerald says. "She seemed content with any amount of affection from anyone, as if she'd been deprived of it. I really don't understand at all..." The alicorn turns to the Sergeant. "I assume you've already been briefed on the upcoming situation."
[2014-06-07 18:09:37] <CrystalDM> 03The stallion nods, taking a sandwich. "Aye. They are already setting up the defenses in Dawn's Inn."
[2014-06-07 18:12:35] * Emerald_Blitz nods. "I'll be able to provide combat medicine and pick off any stragglers that get through the defenses," Emerald says. "But that really wasn't what I came here to talk about." She sits back down and crosses her foehooves. "Sergeant, has Clue ever made any mention of feeling deprived, or done anything to indicate she feels very strongly about personal possessions?"
[2014-06-07 18:16:15] <CrystalDM> 03The stallion shakes his head. "No, not that I've seen." He looks over at Scarlet, who also shakes her head. "No, never. She'd get into fights growing up, but, everyone gets into some trouble when they're young."
[2014-06-07 18:19:07] <Emerald_Blitz> "The cause varies from person to person," Emerald says. "Do you remember what tended to cause the fights, or, more specifically, did you have trouble teaching her to share?"
[2014-06-07 18:20:37] <CrystalDM> 03Again, both of them shake their heads. "No, she was always trying to give us things, growing up. She got a little more stand-offish when she was a teenager, but..." Scarlet shakes her head. "As for the fights, no. We were called in a couple times by her teacher, but it always seemed that the argument started over the silliest things."
[2014-06-07 18:21:54] * Emerald_Blitz chuckles. "Children can be the most generous and most selfish creatures in the world, when the mood strikes them. Was it a pattern of generosity, or just the average 'here, mom, I found a shiny rock' type of thing?"
[2014-06-07 18:22:49] <CrystalDM> 03Scarlet smiles. "Oh, shiny rocks usually. Or something she had made at school."
[2014-06-07 18:27:07] <Emerald_Blitz> "And you say 'try,'" Emerald says, trying to adjust glasses that aren't on her face. "You didn't take them when she offered? I notice you keep a certain amount of knick-knacks lying about, so it can't be an aversion to clutter..." Emerald hmmms. "I'm sorry if I seem overly inquisitive. She has shown a tendency to... be less than generous with goods that could benefit the group and keeps them...
[2014-06-07 18:27:09] <Emerald_Blitz> ...for herself, protesting that she's found nothing. It's not the tendency that I mind so much as its pathology, as if she can't help it."
[2014-06-07 18:31:08] <CrystalDM> 03Scarlet shakes her head. "No, no. We'd put them up on the fridge or on a shelf. Here, let me show you..." The mare walks into a hallway, gesturing to a series of shelves. Its labeled "Clue's Creations!" and the shelves are painted blue. On it are a variety of art projects, as well as a few shiny rocks and knick knacks, all hoofmade.
[2014-06-07 18:33:16] <CrystalDM> 03Mustard continues to eat, an ear perked up but otherwise letting his wife talk.
[2014-06-07 18:33:51] * Emerald_Blitz looks at all the shelves and feels a prickle of sadness at the back of her eyes. "That's very kind of you, thank you," Emerald says. "I apologize for assuming something in her home life contributed to her current state," the alicorn adds. "It seems one couldn't ask for kinder, more involved parents." There's a hint of bitterness in her voice but it soon passes. "I probably shouldn't without...
[2014-06-07 18:33:52] * Emerald_Blitz ...asking her first, but, would you mind if I saw her old room?"
[2014-06-07 18:36:29] <CrystalDM> 03Scarlet shakes her head. "No, no, go ahead. We've left everything ready for her to spend the night if she feels like it."
[2014-06-07 18:37:35] * Emerald_Blitz nods. "I see. Where is it?" she asks, craning her neck around the corner of the living room.
[2014-06-07 18:38:41] <CrystalDM> 03Scarlet points down the hall. "Her room is right down the hall, first door on the left."
[2014-06-07 18:39:49] * Emerald_Blitz nods. "Thank you, ma'am. I won't be but a moment." The alicorn heads down the hall and takes the first door on the left, nudging it open and looking around. If it wasn't her home life that troubled Clue, and her friends hadn't been snatched away so much as just went where life took them, what could be wrong with the mare...?
[2014-06-07 18:41:15] <CrystalDM> 03Pink.
[2014-06-07 18:41:20] <CrystalDM> 03So much pink.
[2014-06-07 18:42:48] <CrystalDM> 03The walls have been painted pink, and the bed is white sheets with a pink comforter. In the corner are a collection of stuffed dolls, and a chest in another corner is closed. The closet has a small sampling of dresses... they all have some part of them that is pink.
[2014-06-07 18:43:32] * Emerald_Blitz chuckles. Some fillies and their pink and frills. The alicorn feels a little guilty as she begins nosing around, looking for a journal or something that might lend... well, lend a clue to Clue's behavior. She nudges at the chest to see if it's unlocked. Knowing Clue, it's probably locked.
[2014-06-07 18:47:45] <CrystalDM> 03Its unlocked. The chest opens up, unfolding into several small shelves. Smaller toys, a Rubik's Cube, and a small, pink, leather bound journal.
[2014-06-07 18:48:59] <Emerald_Blitz> Invasion of privacy time. Emerald nudges open the journal and begins skimming the contents. Probably just a filly's ramblings, but if it's something that might help...
[2014-06-07 18:51:57] <CrystalDM> 03The entries in the journal are sparse. Mostly they contain dates and notes about promises to help a friend. Then there would be a couple of tear-stained entries about the loss of a different friend, when she'd tried so hard.
[2014-06-07 18:53:36] * Emerald_Blitz wipes away a tear. Good ol' dependable Clue. Her heart was always in the right place, but... sometimes aligning her head with it was the trouble. It's not hard to draw the conclusion that Clue blames herself at least a little for the loss of each friend. Emerald finishes reading the few journal entries.
[2014-06-07 18:54:45] <CrystalDM> 03Indeed, that does seem to be the case. Everytime she'd end an entry promising herself that, no matter what, she do whatever it took to always be there for her friends, especially a new one she'd made recently.
[2014-06-07 18:55:00] <CrystalDM> 03Soon enough, though... there isn't a mention of a new friend made recently.
[2014-06-07 18:58:31] <Emerald_Blitz> "She gave up," Emerald says softly. "Oh, Clue..." The alicorn gently puts the journal back in the box where it belongs and carefully closes it all up again. That was the problem. Trying to fill the void where friends should be with more stuff instead. Becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy when it came to possible new friends. Better not to get too attached or the heartbreak would be worse. It...
[2014-06-07 18:58:32] <Emerald_Blitz> ...might not be the entire problem, but Emerald could at least use it as a starting point. She trots back out and closes the door, stopping in the living room. "Thank you, that was enlightening," she tells the two ponies as she takes another half-sandwich. "She does have a heart for others. You should be proud."
[2014-06-07 19:01:45] <CrystalDM> 03Mustard nods. "Yeah... that's our Clue. She's always putting others ahead of herself." Scarlet seems to have vanished?
[2014-06-07 19:03:05] <Emerald_Blitz> "I... um. Hrm. I must be going, I'm afraid. More plans to be made for defense," Emerald says. "I meant to say farewell to your wife as well, but..."
[2014-06-07 19:04:23] <CrystalDM> 03Scarlet pops in from behind Emerald. "Oh, you're leaving so soon? Here, let me get you some biscuits. You're so thin!" Scarlet dashes off to the kitchen.
[2014-06-07 19:05:37] * Emerald_Blitz chuckles and turns her head to Mustard. "Thin, she says. I've never weighed more in my life," she says. "I'll be sure to bring Clue by for a visit once things have settled down. She could use more exposure to the two ponies who have always been there for her."
[2014-06-07 19:07:14] <CrystalDM> 03"We'd love that. I was hoping to see more of her when she joined the guard, but... well, she has her mother's abilities when it comes to disappearing from sight." The stallion chuckles softly before standing up himself. "Well... I'd better get going. Those trainees aren't going to get anything done unless someone is shouting at them."
[2014-06-07 19:08:23] * Emerald_Blitz nods. "Farewell, both of you," Emerald says. "Save those biscuits for after the fight, Scarlet. I'll consider them a delicious reward." She heads for the door as well.
[2014-06-07 19:09:53] <CrystalDM> 03Scarlet calls back from the kitchen. "Alright then dear, I'll hold you to it!" It isn't until Emerald has left the house that something feels... off? Her saddle bags are heavier than when she went in.
[2014-06-07 19:10:21] * Emerald_Blitz peers into her bags, expecting biscuits, or at least a packed lunch. If Clue is anything like her mother...
[2014-06-07 19:11:05] <CrystalDM> 03Its full of cookies. Oh, Sisters, its full of cookies...oh, there is a sandwich in there as well.
[2014-06-07 19:12:05] * Emerald_Blitz chuckles as she spreads her wings and takes to the sky, headed back for Stable 42. A pity Clue was already spoken for. Scarlet and Mustard would make wonderful in-laws...
[2014-06-07 19:13:10] <CrystalDM> 03====FoE Crystal Group: Side Session End====