Kingdom Pony

"WHA!?" Arcane responded 'calmly' to the anvil and ensuing cannon being pointed at them...That is to say, she shouted in alarm, getting several feet off the ground, wings flapping furiously before she realized there was...well...Okay, there was still the cannon to be worried about...She landed for now, staring at the rather oversized barrel and realizing if it hit her, there wouldn't be enough to put in a drinking glass..."Friend! Friend! C-Celestia said you had a ship that could go to other worlds! She wanted us to try and find Luna with it! ...Please point that somewhere else?" She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to say it all at once like that, but on the other hand, she was looking at a cannon she might well be able to fit inside. She didn't want to leave it to chance...

"Look, do you actually have anything better to be doing? Didn't think so. C'mon then mares." Vision said without even a chance for anyone to respond before heading back to the cave.

Heartbreaker had no clue what that cannon would do to them at this range but he sure as hey wasn't going to find out. Options. Quick. He knew he could vanish with the power of the Spark before the madpony could fire but that would leave Arcane exposed. He didn't have a location for the target so tossing the Spellblade was out. Time to turn on the charm, then.

He stood as calmly as he could manage next to the panicking pegasus and grinned at the barrel, "Heartbreaker and Arcane Seeker, Royal Guard. Charmed, I'm sure. Princess Celestia herself sent us down here because she needs your help to find her sister. I presume this is your ship?"

Spoiler:

((Ramsus, I not sure if I was clear, and I apologies. So far, the only pony you've run into is Tide, who is a stallion.))

Snipe is checking every tree he comes across in the forest carefully, making sure he got as much fruit as possible. Sure it was taking a long time, but by the time he gets done he should have a very nice sized pile of fruit for the trip.

*******

"Okiee dokiee lokiee then! You're the two that Celly said were coming! FIRE! " The cannons hum for a second and then...shoot out confetti, streamers, a banner reading "Happy Maiden Voyage!", and two party hats that somehow land perfectly on the two guards heads. A noise blower sounds from up above, and floating down with balloons tied to her is the pinkest earth pony...heck just the pinkest pony the two ever did see. "Hi there nice to meet you I'm Pinkimenia Dian Pie but I don't really like my full name so my nickname is Pinkie Pie or just Pinkie for short and you guys are sooooo lucky I mean you get to test out my ship and go on an adventure that will be awesome despite franchise crossover misgivings and get plenty of sequels but that first one was so bad I mean hello cards what were they thinking but I'm sure this one won't turn out like that because you can't shake up the mechanics too much though they are surprisingly flexible which is nice but anyway enough commentary and back to the plot." the (mad) scientist explains all in one breath. "Oh right, I almost forgot! Hey Broken, come on out! This 'Going to Rescue Princess Luna Party' is for you too!"

After a little work fighting with the cockpit, Broken Promise slowly flies (well, more like barely fails to ignore gravity) down to where the two guards are, "Oh, uhm, hi. I'm Broken Promise, it's nice to meet you..." She says quietly as she lands with an audible thump.

That was...Uhm, okay? Arcane was convinced that Pinkie really was as completely insane as the typical mad scientist...A cannon that shot...party supplies? Really...? Well, it beat the alternative, at least. She just nodded, a little stunned from the sudden explosion of confetti, hats, and the like...Though, there was someone else...Odd name, but Arcane nodded at the introduction. "I'm Arcane Seeker, and this is Heartbreaker. Good to meet you, Pinkie, Miss Promise. I'm...Guessing you're our pilot?"

Nodding somewhat reluctantly, Broken Promise replies, "I learned how to fly this because I wanted to help find Luna. Sometimes Pinky's ideas of how to test it were terrifying, and I hope we don't have to worry about anvils or termites again..." She gives a quite unmistakable shudder when she mentions termites, "I hope we can be friends, I've been very lonely since Luna left."

Finding that he had enough fruit, hopefully, if they rationed it well enough, Snipe flew over to the boat and brought all of the fruit to tarp-like structure he had laid out beside it. "Pro- Not going to go hungry. Con- We're probably going to need a bigger boat."

Right, the "mad" part of "mad scientist" was clearly warranted. And their pilot was friends with Princess Luna? Heartbreaker made a mental note to interrogate her about that later. He extended a hoof towards them in greeting, "Wonderful to meet you both. What can you tell us about this ship of yours?"

"Oh heck, I can't tell you anything about the ship. I have no idea how it works, it just does." Pinkie explains with a giant smile. "I have no idea how any of my inventions work really. I just build it and whoosh, off it goes working which let me tell you is a bit disappointing I mean don't get me wrong a lot of the stuff I build is really super neat but it's kinda sad that nopony but me can build them cause nopony can figure out how they work cause there are a lot of inventions I wish I could share with everypony but that would be too much like work and I have tons of other neat ideas to try out and I'm sure at some point somepony will figure out how to recreate my gyrocopter, my party cannon, my muffin button, my welcome wagon, the GUMMI ship, hyper termites, black hole in a box, my invisible alligator lotion, my super robot army, or why foals love cinnamon toast crunch. Muffin?" she asks, holding a tray of them out.

"Thank you kindly". Heartbreaker really didn't like the idea of eating anything a clearly-unstable inventor offered him but it was better than offending their cannon-toting host. Besides, chewing gave him an excuse to think. So the ship was about as logically-sound as it looked. . . hopefully it still worked, but that might make it difficult for Arcane to figure out without tearing it apart. But this Broken Promise could pilot it, so clearly it had some consistent functionality. He waited until he finished the chunk of muffin before speaking: "So, Miss, uh Promise was it? How did you come to be acquainted with Princess Luna?"

"W-well, hopefully we'll be able to at least figure out the basic principles behind it...Thank you," Arcane took a muffin with a grin, munching on it as she looked at the ship. Pinkie had no clue either, hmm? That complicated things...But there had to be -some- form of magical property to it that could be emulated later...If it had any kind of core, maybe...Hrm. She glanced over at Promise again...Something struck the pegasus as slightly off about her, but it wasn't anything she could put a hoof on. "Still, if it works, that's the most important part, I-...These are pretty good...I think that's what matters."

Broken Promise's eyes light up at the thought of how she met Luna (wait, they actually lit up?) and for the first time she actually spoke with some level of confidence, or well anything that isn't dripping with fear, "I was stuck up in one of the storerooms for a long time after I was put away, I can't really remember why I was put up there, and Princess Luna found me one night while she was wandering around the castle. She was so nice, and she reminded me of my last friend, but that was so long ago there is no way they could be the same pony."

Heartbreaker raised an eyebrow at the pegasus' glowing eyes. That. . . wasn't normal. There was something very very unusual about this pony that he couldn't quite put his hoof on. Oh well, no reason not to just ask her. "You're aware Princess Luna is an immortal, right? She's. . . several thousand years old, by most accounts". He grinned and tilted his head, "You certainly don't look that old to me".

Broken Promise shakes her head, "Well it would be silly if I looked old. Nopony wants to play with an old doll. And I think I would have recognized my old friend thank you very much, it's not like I'm stupid."

"A...Wait..." Arcane was shaken out of her wondering about the ship by the comment from Promise, turning to stare at her for a moment in surpise...A doll? Like, the kind you played with...? How odd... "A doll...? Really...? But you seem...Well, much more lively than any doll I've ever seen in my life..." Today was just full of surprises! "Forgetting doesn't make one stupid, it makes them forgetful, and a thousand years is a long time to forget..."

Vision leads Tide back to the cave, though when they get there it seems that the cave has vanished. However, the feeling of wrongness seems to have increased three fold, at least to Vision. Tide finds nothing odd out here.

As the day goes on, storm clouds begin to gather over the island, and there is a rumble of thunder off in the distance. It almost sounds wrong for some reason, but you can't quite put your hoof on why.

((Perception checks.))

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"Yep, she's a real doll. Articulated parts and everything. I've wanted to see how she works a few times, but Luna said "Nay! Thou shan't tinker with our companion for they craft is mystery even to thee and no writ of safety can be made sure for sake of our boon friend. We will not allow this!" which was really neat but kinda boring but I guess she's right I couldn't exactly say "No worries, I can put it back together" when I don't even know how I put things together in the first place now can I? You know my parents never bought me a doll when I was a kid, I wound up talking to rocks and lint and stuff most of the time. I miss those guys sometimes."

Heartbreaker nods approvingly at how lifelike Broken Promise is, for a doll. The potential for infiltration would be. . . Focus. Princess first. "So you'll be our pilot, then, Miss Promise? Will you be joining us in the field as well?" He smiles and nods at Pinkie Pie, clearly thinking she's off her rocker.

Snipe wipes his brow, smiling but he frowns, looking at the sky and the clouds. "Hm... I'm worried about the food." Snipe turns away from the sky and just flies around, pulling the fruit away and mostly ignoring the sky.

Spoiler:

Tired from the day, Snipe simply goes to bed early, hoping for a full rest before anything exciting happens. Not that anything exciting would happen on this island. What're the odds of that?

Perception: 16 + 15 = 31

Broken Promise nods, "I thought that's what friends do, you know, have adventures together! I mean, I'm well versed in hide and seek, and charades, and I can do this:" Then she starts sounding like Arcane Seeker "I don't know how a doll can live and stuff, I must understand this."

Spoiler:

"Anyway let's get ready and get going, this mission is not going to complete itself!" She then adds, sounding like Heartbreaker.

Spoiler:

Heartbreaker is clearly impressed. "Not bad. . . although you lack my endearing charm and charisma, of course!" Infiltration potential confirmed. If he could figure out how to mass-produce copies, he could have agents everywhere! But how? Did even she know how she was created? "Where are you from, anyways, Miss Promise?

Backup plan time! He tapped into the Spark and opened a telepathic channel to Arcane. "This is Heartbreaker, reporting from your brain. You NEED to figure out how that thing works. You know, for the Guard. And such".

Broken Promise seems to have zoned out, missing Heartbreaker's question entirely, as she suddenly exclaimed at Arcane Seeker, "Ooh, and we can play dressup on the trip!"

"I'm sure that would make you a favorite at parties, ha, ha...!" she laughed softly, amused...The interpretation of her wasn't the most flattering, but the voice was pretty much dead-on. She looked over at Pinkie, nodding and opening her mouth to reply when Heartbreaker's voice sounded in her head, distracting her for a second. "Wh-" Oh! Oooh...Okay...I'll see what I can do, but she's clearly self-aware...I'm with Pinkie, I'm not about to risk Luna's wrath chopping her up to advance knowledge...Though I'm sure that I'll have time to ask her about such things later, and if she gets damaged, maybe I'll get a chance to look at her inner workings then...But as I said, not about to start breaking something down that's smart enough to realize what's going on and protest it... She shook her head, clearing her thoughts (not to mention slowing them down enough to grasp one thread to follow) and looking to the ship. "Heh, maybe so, I'm sure we can find all kinds of interesting outfits...Though, I'm ready when everyone else is..After you?" She gestured at the ship, smiling gently.