Ponysona 4, the Campaign.

"If it's all the same to you I think I'll keep my hooves on the ground next time," replies Tilt, laughing wanly, "I'm okay, though, I've had worse spills. Besides, I've got a first aid kit in case we run into trouble." she levitates out her little case from under her vest.

"And, uh, Brash? Don't take this the wrong way but I have no idea what you're talking about. Smaller words for those of us who haven't gotten past 'spud gun'?"

"Oh um.... let's just say that it causes "kinetic interference" with the magics used in the board. I mean, it's built for me and my magic primarily, not Unicorns or non-magical Earth Ponies. I could probably build a non-magical one but, it'd end up with certain limitations. And it would probably not be cheap either." Brash says. "Anyway, we didn't come here for a lecture, we came here to become quickly exhausted and a good view while we rest, so let's get moving since you seem ok!"

"Mmm.... Reminds me of the problems my dad had when he tried to make 'cloudsurfer' clouds without any need for personalized cloudsurfer boots..." Zeela comments. "Congrats on finding an answer to all of that with making your board's spell matrix work and controllable. Then again having to not work with a cloud framework I'm sure helped a good deal of those problems I recall my dad talk about..."

"I, ehm, right." Tilt blinks the glaze out of her eyes. "Okay, let's get to hiking. We need to be back by midnight, after all."

Tilt sets off, hiking solidly and making sure the other can keep up. It's a long, rough trail, even if it's only an hours' walk or so, and the tree cover makes it seem to go forever. Finally, there's a break in the trees, revealing a slightly decrepit old bench and a stunning view of Ineighba; everything from the school, to Junes, all the way out to the farms, the train tracks off in the distance; it was nothing short of breathtaking.

"And here we are, Ineighba Point. At least, I call it Ineighba Point, because you can see all of Ineighba from here." she pants, "Not many ponies know about up here - nopony wants to hike up the old track, and it's hard to see from the air."

Brash collapses to the ground next to Tilt, "Tha..." *pause to catch breath* "That was quite the hike. Nice view though for sure. Right Zeela?"

Zeela just nods and looked.

Tilt scrapes sweat off her sides. "Hey, you're both not from Ineighba, right? What brought you here?" she asks, after a moment.

Brash thought to himself, "Twice in as many days?" and said, "I was testing a teleporter I'd built and I ended up here. Slammed right into Zeela in fact."

Brash's reaction doesn't escape Tilt's notice. "You get that a lot, don't you?" she giggles, "How are you liking our little niche in the world?"

Spoiler:

Zeela chuckles. "Ah yes... And at that moment... I knew something was going to happen from that moment..." Then shifts gears. "For myself... I more just felt I had to travel, after what happened in Greendale... Somehow in my drifting I just ended up here and didn't feel like leaving... Despite the rumors and odd looks I tend to get form a GOOD deal of this town."

Brash replied, "Heh, yeah. Sorry." then turned his head to Zeela, "And sorry again about that too." and then back to Tilt, "Not that it's that unusual for me. I'm traveling around a lot so people are always asking things like that. Well, I haven't gotten to see a ton what with the shadow stuff and work. Makes a day like this really nice. Minus the hiking. I could do without that next time. Uh... assuming we'll be doing something like this again. I mean. I'd certainly like to. Or y'know... something. Whatever."

"They have a word for it. Gaijin." replies Tilt, softly, "Ever polite, but disdain under the surface."

"They post the test results up after exams. None of us will make the top. Icing. Melody. Star. They can. We won't. Not ever. I'm Chineighse, and Dammaist besides. You're a Zebra and a Mare's Mare. You're a Westerner and create strange devices beyond anything Japony has ever seen. I've lived here since I was eight, but they can still tell. And pride won't let Japony admit a gaijin can be the best. We can only ever be 'good enough'."

Tilt sighs and looks out over Ineighba, and further towards the city in the distance.

"And they won't let us forget it. That's why I like this place. Because it's a place where I can just... Be. Even if it's a bit of a hike," Tilt winks to the tired out Brash, "it's a place nopony else really knows about, or really that anypony else wants to climb to."

Brash frowns for a bit at the response, sighs, and says, "Well, I guess I can understand why you like this spot then. I guess that's one thing I have going for me moving around the way I always have. Other ponies' judgements don't really matter all that much since sooner or later I'll be far beyond where their opinions matter. I'm sure once we're done here with all this shadow stuff, I'll probably move wherever the winds take me. I can't really just up and leave things in this mess since, I'm clearly part of it, but, it doesn't change my goal of going to the moon and the views of those who think me incapable... well, I've proven ponies like that wrong time and time again. Maybe you should do the same if you don't feel really valued here."

Then he shrugs and gets up, takes in the view once more, turns back to Tilt and shakes his head, then looks to Zeela and says, "Well, I guess we should be getting back so we can clean ourselves up and rest before our midnight meetup." And he barely waits for a response at all before starting to walk back down the path they came up.

Tilt flicks her tail as she turns back to look back out at the view. She glances to Zeela. "Is he always like this?" she asks, quietly enough that it was unlikely that the departing hoverboarder would hear.

"I wouldn't know... I've only known him for about less then a week..." Zeela replied with a shrug. "Also not totally sure what you in fact mean by that comment..."

"Oh, nevermind then. I suppose it's just me." replies Tilt, "I don't think I'll be here forever. Girl's got to have dreams, you know? If I'm lucky, I won't mess up and Japony will nominate me as part of its Equestrian Games team. If not, Sportshorse is in talks with a few ponies in the PRC to fast track getting my citizenship back so I can compete on behalf of Chineigh."

George stays in medical to get some extra paperwork done.

The silence sinks like a thick fog. "What are your dreams?"

"Mostly, just enjoy the life I've got. Still looking for something more I wish to do with my life..." Zeela replied and chuckles then starts to follow the leaving Earth Pony. "You know we'd best walk and talk or Brash might get lost looking for his way back."

Melody can find her way to Koishite's easily, the pegasus bickering with an fellow elderly stallion and the argument gradually gets heated.

> Step in. (Courage tier 2.)
> Wait it out and ask later (Understanding tier 2
> Other.
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George can easily work through his paper work, and gets it done rather quickly. On his way out he sees a gaunt, red pegasus stallion at the lockers. The stallion catches sight of George and walks up. "E-excuse me, sir? You're one of the medical pon- er, workers, right?"

George nods.
"That's right. How can I help you?"

The stallion rubs a hoof at the ground awkwardly, glancing back and forth and quietly muttering, "I-Is there any chance you can get me some medicine?"

Melody paused for a moment...As much as she wanted to step in, she didn't exactly want to get caught in the crossfire...Probably best to let them have it out and see what happened after they were done...She could feel the growing frustration from here, though one didn't exactly need to be an empath to notice such things...

((Waiting it out, obviously.))

"Do you have a prescription? I can refer you to a pharmacist if possible."
George casts a suspicious eye over the colt.
Roll (Heal: Looking over the Pegasus does there seem to be anything wrong with him, what signs of drug use does he exhibit? Apply bonuses for heart of courage or freaky knowledge if they apply.)

Roll:

Melody: After the stallion leaves, you can see Koishite giving you a small sigh of relief, almost as though he was happy you stayed away. He trots over, pointing you to some smaller boxes to clear out as he fiddles with the lockbox.
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George: The stallion doesn't show any signs of drug use at all, though he does move between hoofs awkwardly. "N-no. I don't... I... I'm not ready for my parents to know what I want taken.... C-can you keep a secret?"