A Tale of Two Kingdoms

Approaching the ticket booth reveals that the ticket dispenser is running without an operator. The sound coming from it is somewhat muffled, and there is already a large pile of tickets on the counter... the tickets appear to have portraits on them.

As the figure is called out to, it trots down the path very slightly - approaching it further requires delving into the mist.

"This... Feels weird... And looks weird..." Wild Blue comments, and starts to wonder back to the others... Then noticed out of the connor of her eye some figure... This prompted her to fly at the figure, with the hope of finding some answers, quickly.

flight check:

(OOC: Because I think we're working with dream logic that will justify such weird and Meta IC actions... Or we'll find something that has this oddness make total sense later. If I am wrong I'll edit at Z's request. Tickets with portraits seems odd, but not something she'd care to learn more about. But a weird mystery figure... She'll run headfirst to greet such a thing. So unless Z askes me to change I'm going with this post as is. *fingers crossed* Edit: Thought I was doing things wrong. Hope this rework works with more IC-ish logic.)

Wihkuk moves over to the ticket booth and notices the tickets. He examines the portraits on them.

Cassiopeia seeing Wild Blue fly off decides to chase after her.

Spoiler:

"Wha...!? Hey, wait up, you two!" Porko broke into a run after them, trying to keep up with the two...He was falling behind, but it was hard to find his way in the mist...!!

Athletics to keep up:

Wild Blue very nearly gets lost in the mist, but Cassie catches up quickly. With the two together, they manage to proceed to the figures location. It walks forward to meet them...

and it's a mirror.

You aren't entirely sure how you saw a reflection through that mist, but before Cassie and Wild is a mirror.

Porko calls out, and tries to follow his allies... but he isn't quick enough, and begins disappearing into the mist.

Meanwhile, Wihkuk examines the pictures. None of them SEEM that familiar, though you think you see the mare who brought the sleeping masks on one ticket.

"That is Impossible. This must be some sort of trick. Now if I do that perhaps..." Cassiopeia whips her tail around and slams it into the mirror.

Spoiler:

Note notices that she's all alone now and calls out, "Anyone found anything important?"

"WE FOUND A MIRROR?" Wild Blue calls out from in the mists, turning away before Cassie tried smashing the thing.

"I FOUND TICKETS WITH PICTURES ON THEM!" Wihkuk calls out. "ONE OF THEM LOOKS LIKE THE SLEEPING-MASK MARE FROM THE TRAIN!"

Spoiler:

No sooner does Wild Blue's shout conclude than she notices Cassie being pulled into the mirror by her tail. The pegasus was too distracted to properly respond, and gets drawn through the object with Cassie.

Meanwhile, Wishful Thinking's continued prodding around the ticket dispenser leads to it creaking and smoking. With a soft 'poff' it disgorges three final tickets into the air. Examination of them reveals the portraits of Steam, Tourmaline, and one that merely shows green flame...

Porko was confused...He must have lost his way...He ambled about for a moment, trying to find his way back to the others..."Tickets and a mirror...? Uhm...Anyone got any idea about what's up with either one?" he called, trying to figure out where the others were. Still, where were Blue and Cassie...? They'd vanished into the fog, it seemed! Come to think of it, had the fog gotten thicker or was it just him? Huh...Regardless, he kept on...Standing around wouldn't accomplish anything.

Perception:

Porko can't see anything at all... Not even the mist anymore, the only thing is an unsettlingly lough dripping sound in the distance.

Spoiler:

"Now that backfired spectacularly. So where are we now?" Cassiopeia wonders alound as she looks around.

Spoiler:

Wild mutters as she looked around herself. "No clue... But this is your fault... You know that right?"

Perception check:

Z2 wrote:Meanwhile, Wishful Thinking's continued prodding around the ticket dispenser leads to it creaking and smoking. With a soft 'poff' it disgorges three final tickets into the air. Examination of them reveals the portraits of Steam, Tourmaline, and one that merely shows green flame....

As Steam sees his portrait on the ticket, he merely gulps at the thought of what it could mean. He knew what to do with animals, and what to do with ponies, but creepy magical ticket dispensers? Nope. This doesn't even remind him of any scary stories one would tell around the camp fire. He decides to let out a screech to call over a creature, any creature (well, any creature that doesn't have a taste for ponies, boars, or nagas), hoping that they will tell him what's happening...

(Call Animal (2/3 Left), Specification: a creature that would not eat Steam Irwing or his allies)

"Oh, what was that?" Wihkuk asks, holding his ears.

"I don't know but, I don't think I'll be putting it into a song anytime soon." Note responds with a wince.

Wha...Where had the fog gone? Had he escaped it somehow...Still, that dripping was eerie...The boar turned to face it, blinking for a moment...He was a bit surprised...Maybe there was a water source nearby? Regardless, he held his ground for a moment, glancing around. "...Hello? Anypony there? C'mon, say something!!" Though, for a moment, he thought he saw something...

ACTION!:

@Caden
Porko cannot help but exclaim at top volume, "WHAT THE HAY?!?" the instant he casts his spell... the party members ALL clearly hear it, before hearing and seeing nothing more from him...

@Steam
Your call causes what appears to be an enormous tapir to emerge from the mist... for now it merely sits and looks at you quizzically.

@Cassie & Blue
You find yourself on a rough cliffside, surrounded by desert. Train tracks, and a city of shadowy spires loom in the distance, but around you is only a sheer drop and a duo of caves... Wild can tell that one of the caves seems to suppress the light flowing into it.

After hearing Porko's shout, and "seeing" him just vanish, Steam begins to lose his composure slightly. He deals with natural stuff, not supernatural. He does regain some confidence at the sight of an animal, even one so large. "Hello big fella," the bat pony says in a friendly tone to the giant tapir, "What's your name?"

"Hm interesting a desert and a city of spires this may be the "Crystal Empire" that Trixie spoke of. So shall we head into the caves to find a way out or down the cliffs to the city?" Cassiopeia says actually making air quotes around Crystal Empire.

@Steam
The creature lets out out a series of snuffling and whistling squeaks, vaguely similar to (though much less grating than) Steam's call to attract it...
Though even Steam cannot understand the words, an unidentifiable flutter crosses the vision of the trio to spell out 'Chitose'.

tygerburningbright wrote:"Hm interesting a desert and a city of spires this may be the "Crystal Empire" that Trixie spoke of. So shall we head into the caves to find a way out or down the cliffs to the city?" Cassiopeia says actually making air quotes around Crystal Empire.

"Yeah... But didn't the Prince tell us that it was different, like all ice-like and cold?" Wild comments. "That's why we're being sent to check it out..."

Xel Unknown wrote:

tygerburningbright wrote:"Hm interesting a desert and a city of spires this may be the "Crystal Empire" that Trixie spoke of. So shall we head into the caves to find a way out or down the cliffs to the city?" Cassiopeia says actually making air quotes around Crystal Empire.

"Yeah... But didn't the Prince tell us that it was different, like all ice-like and cold?" Wild comments. "That's why we're being sent to check it out..."

Cassiopeia looks down at the much smaller Pegasus. " You do realize that I did not follow when you raced off with Porko. However I do believe that Note did mention it being surrounded by frozen lands. Also we are being sent their because a different principality that's almost identical to this one has claimed it. So where should we go?"