Episode 66: Mandlebrony Ponies
what's Frozen?
how does Michael know about Frozen?
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"It's a Disney movie. Anna, Elsa, reindeer? But I guess you guys wouldn't know about-":
"Who are you talking to?":
"...umm, just thinking out loud. Sorry."Say "Rainbow Dash" in front of him. Witness reaction.
Kind of too bad your Rainbow Dash 20% cooler t-shirt was looted. Might have been fun to put it on and see his reaction. Still, this is probbaly the next best thing.
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"Rainbow Dash.":
"Yeah, what?"Curiously little reaction. Certainly no surprise. Just, "yeah what?"
DEFINITELY ask him about Applejack.
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"Is Applejack...umm, here?":
"Nah, we tried to get her to play but she wasn't interested. Too busy bucking apples or something lame like that.":
"'We?' So, is everyone else...umm, every-pony else? Are they here too?"He shrugs.
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"Don't know. Let me check Herdspeak."He makes a small motion with his right hand.
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"Hey, anypony on?" He pauses.
"Oh, hey Twi. No, not yet. ...right. Yeah, I know. ...dude, I know. Sheesh, leave me alone about it already! Cloudkicker's on duty, she'll take care of it. Have some faith in my team, ok? Yeah, so anyway, I'm talking to..."He looks at you.
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"What's your name again?":
"Michael.":
"Michael, right. Yeah, so I'm talking to Michael, and he...oh. You too?"He looks at you.
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"She says she has a quest to talk to you.":
"She does?":
"Yeah, found a letter in her inventory or something. Anyway, yeah so...what? I don't know. By some lake. Yes, I know how to bring up the map! I just don't...ok, fine. Hang on a second."You watch with fascination as he leans his head forward and squints his eyes while he continued his conversation with what you can only assume is a voice you can't hear.
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"Ok, so we're by this giant lake shaped like a shoe." His face contorts with frustration.
"How the buck am I supposed to know??!! These letters are way too small. Only eggheads like you can read this stuff. ...ok, fine." More squinting.
"Nearest thing is...pan? Panst? Yeah, looks like Panst. Yes, I'm sure." Long pause.
"How am I supposed to know? That's what it says! Ok, fine. We're north of...hallway something. Hallway Raven? And that's next to...pall..." more squinting,
"Pallgard? Yeah, we're north of Pallgard." Another pause.
"Yeah, what you said."Almost sounds like he's looking at an area map, but for some reason he can only barely see it.
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"Yeah, that's fine. Whatever. What? No, I don't have anything to do there. You can find him on your own, you're good at this stuff. What? No way! I've got stuff to do. Cooler stuff. What do you mean 'like what?' Like...you know. Stuff, that's cooler. Well, yeah..but that's still way cooler than bringing you someplace I've already been." Another pause, then he rolls his eyes.
"Ok, fine. Whatever."He shakes his head.
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"Sheesh. Anyway, she's gonna meet me in Pellaglad and I'll bring her back here to talk to you. Says she wants to find out about whatever it was.":
"Instead of bringing her back here, why don't I just come with you to Pelagiad?"He seems surprised.
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"You can do that?":
"Sure. "He facepalms.
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"Oh, hayfeathers. This is an escort quest isn't it? I hate those."You can't help but laugh.
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"Don't worry about it. I'll run."He grins.
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"You think you can keep up with me? Do you have any idea who I am?":
"Of course. You're Rainbow 'Danger' Dash, fastest flier in Equestria.":
"Haha! Awesome!"He puts out a hand and the two of you fist-bump. Then he turns and runs up the hill away from the beach. You give chase. He's faster than you, but his speed doesn't seem unreasonable. Even the Boots of Blinding Speed would have been faster than he's running, and certainly no Sonic Rainboom or anything.
The farmhouses outside Pelagiad become visible as soon as you reach the top of the hill, and a minute later you arrive, winded, to see him casually leaning against the stone perimeter wall.
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"Took you long enough.":
"Yeah, well...I've been training magic rather than jumping everywhere. Not strong enough to do both. Guess my acrobatics is suffering for it. Anyway, so I guess now we just wait Twilight to show up?":
"Yeah, let me check on slowpoke."He pauses.
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"Hey, Twi, we're both here. Where are- ...what do you mean 'what do I mean both of us?' Quest dude came with me. Yeah." Pause.
"Yeah, I know, surprised me too, but he's standing right next to me." Another pause.
"Yeah, ok."He looks at you.
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"She just left Balmora. Be here in a few minutes."Ask Awesomicus if he knows someone by the name of Selene.
+1
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"Do you know anyone by the name of Selene?":
"No. Who's that?":
"Umm...just a name I heard recently."ask him about the ferryman
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"Hey, do you anything about the ferry out on the island?":
"What fairy?":
"Guy with a boat? Asks for a password?"His faces registers recognition.
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"Oh, that was THAT lake? Yeah, that's Pinkie's place. Not as cool as mine, but it's alright."suggest that going to the ferryman and trying the password "Party" may yield results.
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"Then I take it the password is 'party?'":
"Yeah."Interesting. Seems like a lot of things are finally coming together.
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"So anyway, what've you got for me? Twilight'll be here soon, but you have a quest for me too, right?"Give Avesomicus The Quest (with capital Q!) to gather the Chosen Heroes that are destined to save Morrowind from the BBEG and then bring them to us, where ever we might be.
Awesomicus and have him work with you to find all the other heroes and kill Dagoth Ur.
sending out Awesemecicus is useful
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"Actually, yes. Remember that big bad evil guy I mentioned back in Seyda Neen?"He looks excited.
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"Awww, yeah! I get to kill him finally?":
"Well, not quite yet. First you have to gather up all your friends so you can fight him together.":
"What do you mean gather up my friends?":
"Well, you know. Twilight's on here way now, right? And you said Pinkie has her own place by the lake. I know you said Applejack isn't here, but what you need to do is gather up all your friends who are, and-"Awesomicus facepalms.
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"Celestia help me, Twi. If this was all just a dumb excuse to-":
"Awesomicus?"It's Clover. She seems to have been cured of corprus.
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"Twilight! Please tell me this game isn't just some dumb excuse to make us work together for a friendship report!"She seems surprised.
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"No, it's-"She stops, then looks thoughtful.
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"At least I don't think it is. Although the Princess did...oh no."You watch as terror washes over her face.
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"Rainbow! What if it's a test!"Double facepalm this time.
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"Not this again.":
"We've been playing almost a week now and I've spent most of it just reading and exploring! What if this is an elaborate training exercise? What if Dagoth Ur is a trial run for a villain threatening all of Equestria!":
"Relax, Twi. It's probably not like that.":
"What if this is a test to see if I can figure out the magic powering this spell? I haven't even been trying! If I don't figure it out, then-":
"They're not going to send you back to Magic Kindergarten, Twi."The moment he says 'Magic Kindergarten,' Clover starts hyperventilating. Awesomicus just shakes his head and turns to you.
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"Yeah, so anyway, you had a quest for me, right?"You try to answer while watching out of the corner of your eye as Clover descends into a full blown panic attack.
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"Umm, right. So, the big bad, Dagoth Ur, lives underneath Red Mountain. But you can't just go barging in there and expect to beat him in a fair fight. Instead you and Twilight will have meet up with Pinkie and Rarity, and anyone else who's here, and fight him together."Clover's eyes suddenly narrow, her focus on you.
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"How are you able to call us by our real names?":
"What do you mean?":
"You shouldn't be able to call us by anything but our character names. How do you even know our real names?"You look nervously at Awesomicus. He shrugs.
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"He's been calling you 'Twi' and 'Twilight' since you arrived. And you called him Dash just now.":
"No, I called him Rainbow. And neither of us mentioned our other friend's names. How do you know them?":
"Umm, well...Dash must have, I mean...Awesomicus mentioned them on the walk over here."Her left eye twitches.
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"And how were you able to walk here just because it was convenient?":
"Umm...escort quest?"She takes a step towards you, the look in her eyes becoming dangerous.
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"And how exactly do you know what an 'escort quest' is? It's almost like you know this is a game. I find that very suspicious.":
"I don't see the big deal, Twi.":
"Rainbow! He's acting like he knows this is a game. Either this is part of the test the Princess is giving me, or he's malfunctioning. Either way I need to investigate."She pauses.
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"I'll just bring up the console and check his scripts. I can easily reset them if something's wrong."Your blood runs cold.
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"No way, Twi! Lay off my quest giver! I just did two hours of totally lame 'go there' 'talk to him' quests. I am NOT doing that all over again just so you can write a friendship report about it!"Clover seems to be focusing on something else.
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"I know you're still there, Twi! Celestia damn it, answer me! Don't make me fly over there and-"Suddenly Clover jumps and yelps as if in surprise.
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"Aaaahh!"Awesomicus winces as if the noise hurt him.
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"Don't yell in your mic, Twi. Seriously, that-":
"Discord! It's very rude to just pop into somepony's bedroom like that!"Awesomicus rolls his eyes and goes back to leaning against the wall while looking thouroughly bored. You watch in fascination as Clover squirms, walks backwards in circles, randomly pushes the air and generally behaves as if there's something invisible and very slippery wrapping itself around her.
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"No, I...yes. But it's for the...she said what? Well, yes, yes did, but-"You glance over at Awesomicus.
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"Who's she talking to?"He shrugs.
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"Discord, probably.":
"You guys are on speaking terms?":
"More like he is than we are.":
"You want to...really? Well, of course it's ok with me, but Princess Luna said only friends, and...well of course you're a friend, but...yes, she did but I'm sure she didn't mean-":
"Getting bored over here, Twi.":
"Sorry, Dash, he's asking to..." suddenly Clover looks indignant and goes back to talking to her silent companion.
"Well, of course I can! It's a trivial spell, I just....ok, fine! I'll do it if you just go home and-"She goes silent and looks around. Then suddenly looks disgusted and brushes something you can't see out from under her left arm.
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"What did Discord want?":
"Apparently he wants to join the game. Since Fluttershy stopped playing, he-"She suddenly screams and starts running in circles, frantically slapping at her head.
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"Ok! I'll do it right now! Just leave me...."She stops, cautiously touches one hand to her head, looks at her hand, then sighs in relief.
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"Sorry, Rainbow. Have to log out for a bit. Are we still on for tonight?":
"Yeah, Sugarcube Corner at...what time was it again?":
"Seven.":
"Right, seven. I'll be there.":
"I'll tell Pinkie."Clover turns and gives you a meaningful look, but says nothing. Then she vanishes.
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"Finally! I was getting so bored I was gnawing my primaries!" He sighs.
"So, back to important stuff. What's next?"
Level 9
Health 61/61
Magicka 72/73
Armor rating: 2
28.4 Strength (20)
35.5 Speed (30)
43.5 Agility (30)
38.6 Endurance (30)
44.4 Intelligence (40)
42.0 Willpower (40)
45.2 Personality (40)
58.0 Luck (50)
Numbers in parenthesis are starting values
34 Acrobatics (0)
24 Athletics (5)
8 Armorer (0)
34 Light armor (0)
14 Block (0)
9 Unarmored (0)
7 Heavy Armor (0)
5 Medium Armor (0)
19 Shortblade
12 Hand to Hand
8 Spear
5 Blunt Weapon
5 Longblade
20 Destruction (0)
7 Alchemy (0)
5 Enchanting (0)
23 Speechcraft (10)
13 Mercantile (0)
* Chitin greaves (damaged)
* Chitin cuirass (damaged)
* Combat belt
* Iron dagger (guarskin sheathe)
* Iron dagger (guarskin sheathe)
* Commoner's shirt
* Commoner's pants
* Interior coinpurse, containing:
* 51 gold
* lockpick
* 1 potion of water walking
Bearer of Azura's Mark
Bearer of 'scholarly acquaintance of Divayth Fyr' mark
Imperial Legion, Recruit
Fighter's Guild, Associate (1 quest completed)
Mage Guild, Associate
Registered Sadrith Mora business visa, with slave-handling endorsement
Fleabite (cost:1) (Damage fatigue 1-10 on touch)
Alit Hide [1]Resist Poison
Ash yam [1]Restore personality
Ampoule Pod [1]Restore speed
Black Anther [1]Resist poison
Black lichen [1]Drain Health
Bread [1]Restore Fatigue
Bungler's Bane [1]Drain agility
Chokeweed [1]Drain health
Coda Flower [1]Restore luck
Comberry [1]Drain health
Corkbulb Root [1]Restore luck
Crab Meat [1]Restore fatigue
Gravedust [1]Burden
Green Lichen [1]Night Eye
Heather [1]Poison
Hound Meat [1]Poison
Hypha facia [1]Drain speed
Kresh fiber [1]Cure common disease
Kwama cuttle [1]Restore health
Large kwama egg [1]Restore fatigue
Luminous russ. [1]Paralysis
Marshmerrow [1]Resist common disease
Muck [1]Poison
Racer plume [1]Levitate
Rat meat [1]Poison
Roobrush [1]Restore intelligence
Saltrice [1]Restore endurance
Scale [1]Swift swim
Scathecraw [1]Paralyze
Spore pod [1]Paralysis
Stoneflower petal [1]Fortify health
Sm. Kwama Egg [1]Restore Fatigue
Violet coprinus [1]Water Walking
Whickwheat [1]Cure paralysis
Willow Anther [1]Water Breathing
What do you do?