Arrival

[letsplayamod]

The moment is a bit different for everyone. Perhaps you were just minding your own business somewhere, others may have been in more... dire circumstances. Regardless, you were approached by a figure you can't quite picture, and they offered you an accord; in exchange for aiding them in the healing of a world lost to chaos, you would be granted something almost unheard of. Godhood.

And each of you said yes, more or less.

A blurry hand, shifting and rippling, reaches out to you. You feel a glow of warmth, unlike anything you've known before. As soon as you think you can describe it, you wake up.

The room you're in is plainly furnished, but it's about the size of a small flat. Plenty of room to stretch your legs. Don't get too comfortable, however. On the bedside table each room has is a letter; handwritten, it's wrapped around a bronze key. The lettering could only be described as the platonic ideal of 'neat and precise'.

If you are reading this, than our deal has been made. You've awoken in a place that will surely feel strange, so I want you to take some time to acclimate. Meet with the others. Breathe. I shall be along shortly.

-A

Whatever that means becomes more apparent as you step out of your housing and behold the world around you. The building you were in, and every piece of architecture you happen across, is blatantly pre-modern. Yet, something about it is otherworldly. Stone and iron and glass as far as the eye can see.

But above you was where the real questions were. It wouldn't be right to say the sun was shining on you now, nor would it be right to say it's the dead of night. Instead, the sky is a hazy mixture of both, wrapped in suffocating storm clouds that are threatening rain. Everywhere you look, into the horizon, it's the same.

Welcome home. Take your time and explore. Nobody ever said godhood was easy.

Comments

[raisethemoon]

[Was that impulsive? Maybe a little. It felt like a dream - not even one of the ordinary kind she enters, but a proper dream of her own. Luna has them, of course. They simply do not tend to feature people asking her for aid.

So, perhaps mistakes were made. But there's worse mistakes, so she may as well try to take it in stride for now. The alicorn braces herself, then exits out into the pavilion. She's found a thin white ribbon to hang the key around her neck; probably not a permanent measure, but it saves her having to worry about keeping track of it. Her horn glows to aid the light of the torches instead, casting everything around her in a solid blue light. The statuary attracts her eye first, and she trots over to inspect. Her own statue just draws a casual glance, but the others...]

...what in the world...

[What are all these BIPEDS

After some Strange Biped Encounters, she eventually goes out into the grey to check out the edges of the island. Here, she doesn't bother with the light. The golden barrier seems to cast plenty of its own, and that's what she's really here to investigate. She flies back and forth, up and down, searching for the limits and not easily finding them.]

This was not necessary. We could have simply had a fence!

[What if some of us want to go for a nice flight over the water? Some other time, maybe...but even now, the risk of rain doesn't seem to be bothering her at all.

Well, enough of that! She'll be in the scroll storage the rest of the time, sorting through to see if there's anything interesting. She hasn't been deliberately seeking out conversation with any of the others, and probably she should...but there's already a knot of dread in her stomach just thinking about it. Surely learning more is useful too, isn't it?]

Statues

[latinumsbetter]

[Speaking of bipeds, there's one here checking out his own statue. Quark's arms are folded as he eyes himself with approval]

They're not half bad, are they?

[apparently he heard her, if his large ears are any indication of how, but he hasn't turned away to look at her quite yet.]

[raisethemoon]

Ah - ! Uh, no. We suppose they are not!

[Nerves has her voice suddenly rising! Luna smiles, eyes darting around the room for a second, ears twitching. Gives off sort of an awkward vibe.]

I am...Luna! The.......only pony present... [Oh. Oh, she hates this.]

[latinumsbetter]

Luna, huh? [Quark turns, then, pausing for a moment when he gets a look at her, and then regarding her with curiosity as he gives her a once over] I'll assume that 'pony' is your species, considering I've only seen anything like you before in a holosuite.

Edges of the island

[literarybehemoth]

[oh thank whatever gods are out there.

...

alright. the closer he looks the weirder things are with this lady. but at least she's a weird horse instead of all these weird apes.]

Perhaps that is the limit of the protections here? I suppose our host was simply accounting for those who can fly.

[...]

Even if that seems to be limited to you at present.

[raisethemoon]

I would have liked to go out a bit further.

[But she swoops down to land, once she's caught a glance of him. Ah! How marvelous!]

How - ["Art thou". No, she's not supposed to be doing that anymore.] - are...you finding this place? Do you know anything about these humans?

[He looks....not quite like an Abyssinian, granted, but near enough. Certainly he's the most familiar-seeming person she's seen.]

[literarybehemoth]

You would think air would not be particularly threatening, but I have a feeling we are dealing with a particularly strange situation. At least our habitations seem comfortable enough.

[his bed is soooo big. he has so much room to roll around. decadently.

...though. speaking of strange situations.]

The humans are strange. I... think they are from a place where only other humans have speech and reason? So they seem to be taken off guard that I am able to speak with them.

pavilion

[rockymountaindie]

[ At juuuust about the same time as Alex realizes there's a statue of a horse, he spies Luna trotting up, and. Well. Glowing.

And speaking.

He does a full-on double-take in her direction. ]

[raisethemoon]

[Oh. Here's one of them now.

An unknown species! They must be very far away indeed! Making such first contact is indeed within the general job description of a princess, but...well, traditionally that has not meant Luna. Even disregarding the past millennium. She stares back at him for the entirety of the double-take, eyes wide and ears back.

This is ridiculous. She has to do something!]

HELLO!

[that was Too Loud]

[rockymountaindie]

GAH-

[ holy shit that WAS too loud-

Alex starts and, matching volume for a moment: ] HI- hi. Hi.

Cliffside

[sweetsynergy]

It does seem a bit excessive, doesn't it?

[Luna has lucked out by not being the first tiny, speaking animal Vanity has encountered this day, though she is paying attention to those wings and the general physicality of how they seem to work.]

Question is, are we being kept in or is something else being kept out?

[raisethemoon]

It doth not bode well...

[Maybe there's something to be kept out. But she can't say she much likes being restricted, even if the area's generous enough that one couldn't really call it a prison. Regardless, she lands. This human is much more colorful! She had started to worry that they would all look too similar to keep track of.]

Though I suppose none of you could fly out anyhow. Unless "god powers" permit it?

[sweetsynergy]

[Vanity opens her mouth. Closes it.]

[Considers for a second.]

[Takes a couple small experimental hops.]

Well, not mine, at least.

edges

[atu709]

[ Snow wants to trust in all of this. She hadn't been granted much of a choice. But...

Darkly: ]

Lovely, the walls of our cage sparkle.

[raisethemoon]

It hardly seems a way to treat one's new helpers.

[Did they all agree to this, truly? Did she? It's muddied. Luna can at least imagine herself having done so, but some of the others here seem quite upset. Anyway, dreams can be manipulated. Maybe it was all just a lie.

She remains airborne for the moment, lowering slightly to converse more easily. If Snow is pale, she doesn't really notice. What does she know of human colors?]

[atu709]

Unless there's something dangerous out there, I think it's something to ask after whenever we get a clearer idea what's going on.

[ And likewise, Snow White doesn't bat an eye at the alicorn. These things just happen, and she's mostly thankful that Luna doesn't come from some fairy tale telling where she likes to stab young women with her horn. So far. ]

pavillion

[pariunt]

[....You know, after finding a talking cat, a talking horse doesn't seem so unusual.]

It seems like quite a few of us are in an unusual situation.

[raisethemoon]

All of us, I suppose...

[She seems a little unsure. Is she as alien to them as they to her? How is it somehow already worse?]

We - I have...never seen creatures such as you before. [Her gaze flicks back to the statues at large. She hasn't truly made any distinction between the different types of humanoids here; ponies can all look quite different and still be one species.] It - it is quite remarkable that we all speak the same tongue.

[hey actually yeah that IS weird]

[pariunt]

I've seen creatures that resemble you, but it's quite superficial, I think.

[In the same way an elf looks somewhat like a human. She only vaguely resembles horses, what with the blue fur, wings, and horn.

But as for everyone speaking the same tongue.....]

That is quite unusual. Perhaps it's the work of our mysterious host.

Scroll Storage

[catsgothistongue]

[in spite of him spotting one of the statues being equestrian whereas the rest were either humanoid or... feline, it doesn't prepare him for the actual sight of the horse combing through the scorched scrolls. Its sheer size especially, and that sparkly mane waving like clouds in the night.

Don't they tell people not to sneak up on horses from behind. Since, you know, they've got strong legs that could put you in the ER?]

What'cha lookin' for?

[... if they had, ranma hasn't gotten the memo. cause he just slinks on over right by Luna's side without making a single peep or sound.]

[raisethemoon]

[Luna lives in a society and has enough self-control not to reflexively kick behind her! But she does yelp and lash out with the nearest wing - which is big and strong, probably even scarier than goose wings.]

[catsgothistongue]

ACK-!

[There was an itty-bitty buried down self-preserving side of his brain that was anticipating getting bucked. Nowhere did that include getting smacked by her wing! He comedically stumbles back, slips on an unrolled scroll and falls on his haunch with a resounding oof.

we're off to great start]

Scroll Storage

[do_as_i_say]

[Learning about the situation at hand is probably more important than interacting with the others. This is a scary situation that they're all in, and knowing more about it would probably help.

Plus, it's probably pretty easy to ignore the soft cries coming from one corner of the room. They're so quiet that it's almost like they almost don't want to be heard.

It's probably nothing important.]

[raisethemoon]

[Oh.

Well.

They really should have taken Celestia. She's always been better at things like this - well, at everything, really. But after a moment of alarmed indecision, Luna sets down the scrolls and quietly steps a little closer. "Quietly", of course, being subjective; she's still an actual horse with hooves and all.]

Hello...?

[do_as_i_say]

[The crying stops pretty quickly, though some sounds of sniffling are definitely audible. And as Luna turns a corner, she finds...well, another human. No surprises there, at this point.

Meanwhile, the sadness that was on the girl's face is gone in an instant, replaced with pure confusion, as she just stares. Completely silent.]