Wanderlust: Equestrian Nights

Scorch

Violet is waiting patiently, having started another, quieter song in your absence. "Wonderful job. If you don't mind my asking, though, what exactly is the relation between you two?"

---

Bubbling Spring

The server cocks an eyebrow at you. "You'll have to talk to them about it," he says with a skeptical tone.

---

Steam Twins

Glowing Lantern leaves as Nightmare comes back, taking his seat again with a disgruntled look on his face, and mumbling about the "thrice-bedamned drake" a moment before he lightens again. "Well. Turns out she does take requests!"

Bubbling Spring rolls his eyes. "Fair enough." He gets up and loops around to the other balcony. "Nice statue." He says as greeting.

Soft gently clears her throat (while Water waves back at Bubbling), and cocks her head at Nightmare. "Yes. Unfortunate that she wasn't requested something... a little more enjoyable." Water finally takes another sip of her outrageous drink, and Soft continues. "I'm curious why you decided to ask us our opinions on music, and then basically disregard it. Yes, it was played very expertly on the piano, but it wasn't a piano piece- the tempo, the lyrics, the general mood of the song was something more akin to my sister's tastes, something accompanied by a heavy beat and synth music. Which, of course, were absent. It was a valiant effort, to be sure, but it seems more like you had that song in mind to sing, rather than take our tastes into account. Please inform the dragon maestros that we think they performed quite well, however." Soft lets a heavy silence punctuate her analysis, for a few moments. Then Water breaks it with, "...ann neither of us're even Luna, soo..." Soft sighs, and begins eating.

Scorch looks pleased at the compliment. "Oh, Wandering? He's my boss, and my best friend," answers Scorch, thinking more of the true Wandering, and the fake Nightmare, "Normally he's a great guy, but when he's drunk he can get a bit, you know, overzealous and think he's king of the world. And he's been drinking some strong neon green drink tonight. I'm just tagging along so he doesn't do anything too crazy." Scorch gives a earnest smile to the pianist. "I'm really glad I did."

Scorch

"If it is what I think it is he'll be unconscious before too long," Violet says with a worrisome smirk. "And then you can be all mine for the evening."

---

Steam Twins, Bubbling Spring

Nightmare takes another sip - carefully - and swirls it about in contemplation a moment. "You're... right, I suppose," he says after swallowing. "A long time ago, when I was a new voice in our head," he says, starting to slur a little as he taps his head - wincing as he does so - "Eyeball decides, 'I want this thingy out,' y'see? So, one of th' things he tries is playin' these sappy motivational things in 'is sleep. Hopes that maybe if he saturates his brain with positive stuff it'll drown me out."

He takes another, much larger gulp before continuing. "It worked a little bit. One of 'em was all about redemption, or something dumb like that, and I wondered if I could be. Redemptioned. I mean, redeemed." He takes another big gulp. "I wrote that then. I'd run it through' is earsies, trying to see if he'd take a hint. But nope. It just made him mopey 'cause he didn't think it was me doin' it. An' I decided the answer was 'Nope. No redemptioning for you, Nightmare' and basically just let go. Made it Goal Number One to get out like this and wreak havoc across the nearest town."

He takes another gulp, leaving his glass nearly empty. "An' then you two come along. At first I just teased Eyeball about 'is underused gems and what I'd do if I was outside. An' then he actually made a move. He's ne'er done it before. An' then you made a move back! An-an-then you kept moving towards each other, even after you found out about me, an' I thought back to that lonely time of redemption-less-ness an' that song an' started wondering again..."

He finishes the glass, slamming it down hard enough to shatter before putting his head on the table under his hooves. "I don' feel so goooood..."

At that moment, Bubbling Spring comes in. "Nice statue," he says politely, drawing Nightmare's attention.

"Tanks. Go buck yourshelf," Nightmare replies, without lifting his head up.

"Oh?"

(Insight to know what that smirk means: 7 (Roll) + 10 (Skill) + 2 (Level) = 19)

Scorch

Scorch knows quite well that dragons, especially as they grow older, are extremely possessive. This extends to their mates, especially, with whom they have a "mutual ownership" of sorts. For developing relations, it's more akin to "borrowing" each other from whomever they perceive as their current "owners" - usually a parent, or in Scorch's case Wandering Eye - or, failing that, the drake in question to be "borrowed".

"Won't you be, Scorch?" she says teasingly, running a claw down Scorch's jawline.

"Oh." Scorch blushes, then grins. "I sure will."

"...oh." Soft looks at the table, suddenly feeling some sympathy for the nightmare. "Well... true, we didn't... When Wandering told us about you, we sort of wrote it off-" "I didn't!" Water's slurring echoes the nightmare's, though she seems to be regaining cognizance. "I thought it was cool." "Oh, well, then I wrote you off as something minor, something I didn't think I'd have to deal with much, if at all. And, suddenly popping out like this and just assuming I was willing to... well that just seemed so presumptuous." She is looking away now. "I had made up my mind I wouldn't like you. I was interested in Wandering." "I didn't," Water interjects again. "I'm interested in you. Maybe not, not as much as him, but if you're part of him, then I'll take it..." Water's food is almost gone, and looks to her drink again, but doesn't drink any more. Soft just sighs. "The song... well, in that context, it's quite... nice." She pauses, not knowing what else to add, and slips into silence.

Scorch

"Wonderful!" she says, finishing her last song. "I'm done here for the evening. We can go ask my mother now."

---

Steam Twins, Bubbling Spring

Nightmare looks up forlornly. "Th... Thank you. For givin' me a chance... But I think I blew it... An' maybe drank too much..."

With that, his eyes close and he slumps over, out like a light for the time being, leaving the twins alone with Bubbling Spring.

Soft sighs again. "Well, not gonna get the girls like that..." "I mean... maybe...?"

"Mother? Right. Sure." Scorch gulped silently. "Think I should take my chains or leave them here?"

Scorch

"Oh, bring them," she says indifferently. "Maybe Mother would like drake with jewelry."

After good nights to the rest of the group, she then proceeds to lead you out the door, and down a path along the river a while until you find yourself outside of a sprawling cavern, into which the river flows, and well outside of the town proper.

"Shall we?"

Scorch fiddles with the chains on his neck as if they were a tie. "Is there anything I should know before we do?" he asks...

Bubbling Spring looks a bit utterly non-plussed at the situation. So Nightmare was bad to the core...until tonight. Or maybe yesterday, it was hard to keep track. Like everything else in his life, it was simple until he got a grasp on it. He really missed simplicity.

He sighs deeply, and lifts the heavy crown off Wandering's head and onto the table next to him, taking a seat at the only open side of the table. "I could set him on fire, if you want to talk to him some more." He offers, ever the picture of helpfulness.

"No thanks... we'd hate to mess up something so pretty." "Oooohh..." "Wandering! Wandering is the pretty one. Not... well..."

"Mm." Bubbling Spring says, expressive. He's very thankful for the pointy crown in front of him on the table, because he's easily tired enough to fall if it didn't mean landing on it. "Lavender's gone, by the by." He says dully. "According to Discord she's miles from town."

Both twins look up at Bubbling for a moment, and then away again. "Sorry. She just left?" "At least she's not being abducate- abducted by those herdbrains or whatever. She's probbbly safe."

Scorch

"Don't touch anything," is all Violet says before leading you into the cavern.

Oddly, it does not grow dark as you proceed. Before long you pass a gold bit on the ground. And then another. Soon you start seeing more of them, along with the occasional gem, and it gets harder to avoid stepping on them. Eventually there is a veritable sea of bits, gems, chests and other treasures rising before you, and you feel twinges of jealousy forming in your stomach.

Violet holds a claw out to stop you. She steps onto a marble pedestal, raising her up several feet above the pile of gold. "Mother! I'm home. And I found something."

On the other side of the hill (The term "pile" ceasing to be appropriate) something stirs, and you hear a veritable cascade of coins as it does so. The coins continue falling in rhythm as Violet's mother clambers up the side, until, after several painfully long moments...

A pony appears over the top of the hill. Just a regular old earth pony, with a purple mane and a creamy white coat.

"Violet! What have I told you about that ridiculous pedestal!?"

"Mooo-theeerrr..."

"Don't 'Mo-ther' me. Now get up here and give me a hug," she says, sitting down to hold her forehooves out as Violet begins laboring up the hill...

"Yeah, I know. I just thought...that we were closer than that." Bubbling Spring makes a face. "I thought she was my cousin. Which was stupid."

"Your cousin? Since when?" "Well, still, a pony her age is better off safe elsewhere, right? Its not like you can't find her again later."

Scorch places "Don't Touch Anything" pretty high in his list of important things. Second, even, below "Don't Get Angry" and above "Don't. Get. Angry". He focuses on looking upwards to ignore the vast hoard around him. Seeing Violet's mother as just an earth pony allows him to give a sigh of relief, although it only raises further questions, such as why she is living in a cave out here, and how she has managed to amass such a fortune...

Scorch

Violet reaches the top of the hill and holds her mother, all but swallowing the earth pony in her grasp.

"So what is this thing you found?" Mother asks from beneath Violet's embrace.

"I found a drake. He's just my age, too!"

"Well, let me see," she says, squirming out to look down. "You. Stand on the pedestal and let me look at you," she says in a commanding tone that somehow resonates in your ear...

((Will check please.))

Scorch flutters onto the pedestal and stands up-straight, his smile hiding any shook nerves under a layer of confidence, but boy does he sorta wish that he took some liquid courage earlier instead of apple juice...

(Will Check: 15 (Roll) + 5 (Skill) + 2 (Level) = 22)

Scorch

"Hmmm." Mother glares down at you, a wearing a decidedly judgemental expression. "I trust you asked for him first."

"I did."

"The chains are a bit plain, but they seem fitting," she continues, her expression softening as she begins to rub her chin. "What is your name, boy?"