GURPS My Little Pony (IC)

[Istari]

"Well I figured I would pass that information along, I better get back and see if the others have gotten up to anything without"

Novello leaves the clinic and starts walking back towards the library.

[mikeejimbo]

"They're from Manehattan," Chocolate Cream replied. "If we're in the Dream Lands, then are we all asleep? I don't remember when I went to sleep. Could somepony wake me up?" he asked.

[Forum Explorer]

We're not sure if we can wake you up. Nothing normal works but we've made an antidote that might do it.

[mikeejimbo]

"Antidote?" he replied, furrowing his brow. "I think I remember what that word means... wait! Antidote to what?" he asked, confused when he suddenly did remember the meaning.

[Zerkai]

"We thought you and some other ponies that can't wake up might've been exposed to something... But it is possible for ponies to get stuck in The Dream Lands. If you can find your way to your own dreams, you should be able to wake up." Lyra explained as she looked down at the book with a worried expression.

"But... where are these other ponies you're with from? Ponyville? Or some other town?"

((OOC: I'm so sorry. I'm guessing a few days ago I opened this thread up in a tab to check the new posts, but got distracted and closed the window. So until now I didn't notice.))

[mikeejimbo]

"I don't know if I can find my way out of this cave to get back to my dreams," he said. After a moment, he remembered that he had something else to answer. "Oh yeah! And the other foals are from Manehattan. Did whatever we get exposed to spread there too?"

[Forum Explorer]

We're not sure. Don't worry though we'll contact everypony we can to find a solution.

[Zerkai]

"So Ponyville and Manehatten... are there any foals from other cities there? Any Adults? Have you seen anything other than other foals?"

[Deadly]

Patch got a little impatient. "Let's try the antidote. If that doesn't work, I think finding out how in Tartarus it spread all the way to Manehatten would be a good idea. Might be a good idea in any case."

[mikeejimbo]

"There are some adults. Or at least one, her name is Synergy," the colt said. "She's from Ponyville. I think Gentle Mane was here too and he's from Ponyville but I don't know where he is now. If you do try the antidote, please still try to figure out how it spread to Manehattan!" he pleaded.

[Forum Explorer]

Right, lets get moving everypony. Firefly flies off to go explain what's going on to Mayor Mare and Spike.

[Istari]

Novello runs into Firely as he returns to the library.

"Find anything else while I was away?"

[Deadly]

Patch heads to the hospital for the second, or possibly third time, hoping the others follow.

[Forum Explorer]

Yeah, we contacted one of the sleeping foals and they aren't anywhere near Twilight and the zebras. Also apparently this has spread to Manehatten. Anyways I'm going to go tell the Mayor what we've learned and then meet everypony at the hospital.

[Zerkai]

"We'll do whatever we can to help you and everypony else, I made a promise to Bonbon. We'll figure this out Chocolate Cream." Lyra told him as she canceled her spell, even more worried about the situation since it started as she headed off towards the hospital.

[mikeejimbo]

Everypony meets at the hospital, including Mayor Mare and Spike. It was assumed it would probably be easiest to have everyone together as they explained what they had currently found out.

"... but how could it have spread to Manehattan?" Nurse Redheart asked. "Just what was Twilight doing, anyway?"

Mayor Mare expressed similar concerns. Manehattan was out of her jurisdiction, she didn't know what, if anything, she could do.

[Deadly]

"We don't know, but hopefully we can find out," Patch said. "Who should we give the antidote first?"

[Zerkai]

"Well... maybe Chocolate Cream or one of the adults. Is there a Gentle Mane here? He might be able to give us more information." Lyra addressed Nurse Redheart. Chocolate Cream said Gentle Mane was there with them, but not anymore.

[Forum Explorer]

I think we should send a letter to Manehatten and let them know what's going on. If the antidote works we'll send the recipe as well.

[Deadly]

"I think Gentle Mane would be a good choice for the antidote," Patch agreed. "If he is here."

[Istari]

"The spread certainly isn't concerning, do we know if anypony traveled between Manehatten and Ponyville recently? That could explain the transmission if it was dormant for a period."

[mikeejimbo]

"There is a Gentle Mane here," Nurse Redheart said. She sounded both glad to hear that some information was correlating, and confused by it. This was all sounding like some rather strange magic.

"More importantly, did anypony who was involved with the experiments or whatever they were doing travel?" Mayor Mare asked, addressing the other question while Nurse Redheart led them all to Gentle Mane.

Gentle Mane is administered the antidote. As everypony watches, his breathing changes, and he begins to blink. He looks around the room from face to face.

"Where am I?" he asked, trying to sit up, but then deciding to recline again.

[Deadly]

"Maybe this Team Spirit pony came from Manehattan, or traveled through there," Patch offered.

As the antidote showed signs of working he brightened up. "So it would seem our suspicions were right. I'll have to write the recipe down so we can send it along swiftly."

"You are in the Ponyville hospital. You've been asleep," he said to Gentle Mane as the pony asked.

[Zerkai]

"Oh thank Celestia it worked..." Lyra let out a sigh of relief when she saw Gentle Mane waking up.

"You were exposed to a substance that forced you to sleep. We found an antidote but... what is the last thing you remember?"

[mikeejimbo]

"Asleep?" the older stallion says. "If that's the case, the last thing I remember was probably just a dream. It felt...strange though. Not like a dream, but not quite real either. Still, dreams are funny things. And it does make sense - the last thing I remember before that was going to sleep. Nothing particularly strange happened before-" He stopped mid sentence when he looked down at his hoofs. "Great Starswirl's Ghost!" he cried.

[Istari]

"You aren't Gentle Mane are you?" Novello says with a sigh.

[mikeejimbo]

"No, I am," he says quickly. "It's just - in my dream, if that's what it was, as you said I was asleep, I met a stallion. He was large, and had a dark black coat and a dark black mane. And he introduced himself as 'Papa Cheval', and said he could give me anything I wanted. And I said I wanted to be young again... then when I wake up here-" up to this point he'd continued to stare at his hooves, but then thrust them into everyone's view. "I don't have callouses anymore. My skin feels less wrinkly. Are you sure I was dreaming?"

[Forum Explorer]

Kinda sorta. As far as we can tell you were in a place called the Dreamlands. So you physically were asleep but mentally you were someplace else. We have no idea on how things carry over from one place to another.

[Istari]

"Well I'm glad you are safe you never know with dream world. Should we consider developing more antidote at this point with this success?"

[Deadly]

Patch held out the rest of the antidote "Somepony should wake the others, I'll write the recipe down so we can send it to Manehattan."

He looked at Gentle Mane curiously. "That is very interesting. Perhaps the poison has curative side effects." Patch pondered it thoughtfully. "We don't know much about the dreamlands, but dreams are always strange. Papa Cheval... that just means Horse Father or something. Maybe you were feeling the curative effects of the poison and this affected your dreams."

[mikeejimbo]

"Horse Father? Is that... French? It's funny, he didn't seem French," Gentle Mane said. "And something about that language seems familiar, but I can't quite put my hoof on it. Maybe it was just my crazed, fevered dreams. The funny thing is, though, I don't know how I would have gotten any of the poison in me."

[Forum Explorer]

Remember to not wake up Twilight and her zebra friends. They've got some goal they are trying to accomplish.

Also I wouldn't be surprised if you met an actual entity who could modify this reality through your dreams. Let's wake up more ponies and see what they have to say. Let's try waking up Chocolate Cream.

[Deadly]

"Magic to make you younger, through dreams? That would be no ordinary magic. I think the poison is a more likely explanation." Patch said incredulously. "Anyway, we don't know how everypony got the poison, either, but it seems to have spread quite far. Until we find out it's probably a good idea to be cautious."

Patch found a piece of paper and began writing down the recipe for the antidote.

[Forum Explorer]

I've seen weirder. And trapping ponies in the dreamlands is already magic beyond the ordinary. Firefly points out.

[Deadly]

"There is a difference between being poisoned and unable to wake up, and a stranger supposedly making you younger with nothing but a promise in a dream. And why would a stranger offer that to some random pony in a dream anyway? Just think about it for a moment. Much more likely that the poison had some beneficial side effects that cured his callouses and maybe smoothed his skin a little. Could be worth a fortune if we could isolate that effect, too."

[Forum Explorer]

Well it's easy enough to test isn't it? Lets wake up another pony with the antidote.

[Deadly]

Patch looked around. No pony had taken the antidote while he was writing. "I thought I asked somepony to do that already while I finished writing." I may be the only competent pony around here, he thought quietly, but "I only have four hooves." And don't blame me if I suddenly fall asleep without having written down the recipe for the antidote. Then you'll be screwed, he thought further as he shoved the antidote to Firefly. "Go ahead, don't let me hold you back. But how many elderly ponies do we have who are sleeping? Maybe it only helps with callouses and such. Can't make a young filly or colt look much younger than they are."

[Forum Explorer]

Alright! Nurse Redheart is Synergy here? I have some medicine for ummm, him? Firefly guessed Hey who is Synergy anyways? Regardless if he's here and asleep lets test the antidote.

[Zerkai]

"I don't like this... We can't say it was just a dream. He was in the Dreamlands with the others. Then Chocolate Cream said he was gone." Lyra said as she moved closer to Gentle Mane's bed "Did this.. Papa Cheval say you had to do anything for him?"

[mikeejimbo]

"Synergy is a mare," Nurse Redheart corrected, although professionally and matter-of-factly. "She's here too. Do you think we should try the antidote?" She began leaving the room to show the way to Synergy's room.

Meanwhile, Gentle Mane looked perhaps slightly nervous. "Actually he did refer to it as a deal, of a sort. All he wanted from me was to spend some time with him, though. I don't see how that could be any harm."

"And yes, I was with some other ponies. I think there was a mare named Synergy in the dream. I think we were in a cave. But then I heard someone calling out to us, and I went deeper while everyone else stayed behind. That's where I met Papa Cheval."

[Deadly]

"I think," said Patch over his writing, trying to disarm any panic, "we shouldn't worry too much. Let's assume it was just a dream or fevered fantasy until anything else is conclusively proven. The dreamlands is still a land of dreams, it's not unreasonable to assume it was just that. I'm sure we're all curious about all these questions, but there is no reason to start panicking or assuming the worst just yet."

[mikeejimbo]

Nurse Redheart administers the antidote to Synergy. The unconscious mare begins to blink slowly, similar to how Gentle Mane did. She also exhibits a similar momentary confusion as she realizes she isn't where she fell asleep.

"What happened to me?" she asks.

[Forum Explorer]

Hi! You were somehow trapped in the dreamlands via some sort of poison. We gave you the antidote so you'd wake up. How are you feeling? Firefly says quickly

[Istari]

"Do you remember anything that happened that stood out to you?"

[Zerkai]

Lyra continued to worry in silence as she followed the others as they cured another of the adults. She was more worried about the foals, particularly Chocolate Cream, but she wanted to see if anything strange had happened to Synergy too.

[Deadly]

Patch finished writing down the recipe, folded the paper neatly, then went to look how the others were doing with Synergy.

[mikeejimbo]

Synergy looks around and acclimates herself to her new environment, which she seems to accomplish more quickly than Gentle Mane. "Dream Lands?" she asks, looking slightly confused. But then she realizes she ought to explain what she does remember of her 'dream', or whatever it was.

"I remember being with some foals. And I think an older stallion. And some of them were from Ponyville. But then something happened to the older stallion, I think he went somewhere. I'm sorry, it's all very foggy," she explained.

[Deadly]

"Gentle Mane, the older stallion you mention, is awake and doing well, like yourself," Patch reassured the mare. "I'll go and wake the foals while you talk to miss Synergy, I don't like them being all alone for too long," he said to the others.

"Miss Redheart?" he turned to the nurse holding the antidote.

[mikeejimbo]

Nurse Redheart nodded. "I think the only foal we have here is Chocolate Cream. Who were the others?" she said.

[Forum Explorer]

Synergy do you feel any different now that you're awake?

[Deadly]

"I am not sure. There were some from elsewhere, but perhaps Chocolate Cream can help us," Patch said as he followed the nurse.

[Zerkai]

"Chocolate Cream said the other foals were from Manehatten." Lyra spoke up as she followed Patch.

[mikeejimbo]

OOC: Sorry for my absence, I should have warned you guys I was going to be away for a bit.

Nurse Redheart led them to Chocolate Cream. They apply the antidote, and he begins to come to much like the others. He is also rather confused at his surroundings, perhaps moreso than the others.

"How'd I get here? Where are the others?" he said, almost in a panic.

---

Meanwhile, Synergy had been asked a question.

"I don't know. I think so. You know what the strange thing is? I feel almost like this is the dream, and I had previously been awake. I'm probably still just not completely woken up yet, though," she said.

[Zerkai]

"Chocolate Cream? It's me, Lyra." The unicorn mare spoke up as she came closer to the bed, letting out a sigh of relief that he woke up.

"We found the antidote to whatever caused everypony to fall asleep. We're sending the recipe to Manhatten to cure the other foals."

[mikeejimbo]

He blinked a bit. "They're going to be all right, right?" Chocolate Cream asked. "I'm still not exactly sure what's going on." He looked at Lyra, eyes full of questions unasked and unarticulated.

[Istari]

"Everything will be okay, so far everything seems good so there's no sense worrying over it."

[Forum Explorer]

Hopefully some coffee will wake you up fully then. Now do you feel any different physically? Younger perhaps?

[mikeejimbo]

"Younger?" Synergy said, looking confused for more than just her drowsiness. "Why would I feel younger?"

Meanwhile, hopefully Chocolate Cream isn't feeling younger - he doesn't have far to go back!

"Are you sending someone to find them, then?" he asked about the foal friends he met in the Dream Land.

[Forum Explorer]

I'll take that as a no then. To answer your question another pony patient who we awoke today reported that they felt younger after having a dream about making a bargain with that as their reward. My friends and I were debating if that was a coincidence, an effect of the medicine, or an unknown effect of the Dreamlands.

[Zerkai]

"We're sending a recipe for the cure to Manehatten, then they can give it to all the sleeping ponies there so they'll wake up too Chocolate Cream."

[mikeejimbo]

"This is all very confusing," Synergy said. "What are the Dreamlands?"

Meanwhile, Chocolate Cream is comforted by the knowledge that his new friends will be OK, and happily begins munching on some carrot gelatin dessert that an orderly brought him.

[Forum Explorer]

Honestly? We have no idea. But that's where you were before you woke up. Also its possible to get there in a normal sleep. Firefly says with unnecessary cheer.

[mikeejimbo]

"That's bizarre and troubling," Synergy said. She sounded worried, but in a sort of metaphysical, distant way, rather than anything involved with concern for the immediate future.

[Forum Explorer]

Excuse me a second, Oh and go drink some coffee or something. See if that snaps you out of it. Firefly goes and tracks down Patch HA! Your theory that the antidote was causing the ponies to be younger was incorrect! Synergy doesn't feel younger at all!

[Deadly]

Patch turned as Firefly came in, and gave her an unimpressed look. No way he was going to let such a remark go unchallenged. "Interesting, but it in fact proves very little. All we know is that one patient was cured of his callouses and feels younger. Note the highly subjective nature of this diagnosis, he feels younger. Did Synergy have callouses? Perhaps Gentle Mane had some other conditions which, when cured, would make him feel younger. We don't even know if it is permanent, perhaps he'll feel right back to his old self when he wakes up tomorrow. I am willing to entertain the possibility that there are other explanations, but I think 'some pony in a dream actually made him younger' should be considered among the least likely, far below 'something in the cure made him feel a bit younger'. So far that remains the best explanation I can think of, but sure, perhaps there is a better one and we should look for it. And if we actually meet this Papa Cheval then perhaps I'll accept your theory."

[Forum Explorer]

He didn't react until he looked at himself. To himself he was visibly younger. Synergy has so far not exhibited any of the same traits. She is tired, listless, and can barely focus on what is around her. In her own words she feels like she is dreaming. Furthermore she did not encounter Papa Cheval at all and made no bargain.

Anyways there is only one way to prove I'm right. I need to enter the dreamlands myself and track down this Papa Cheval!

[mikeejimbo]

Nurse Redheart brought some coffee to Synergy, who began to drink it eagerly. Nothing could be found to be wrong with the mare's vitals, so coffee was probably just fine for her.

[Deadly]

"What we need to do is keep our hooves on the ground and try to act a little rational here," Patch said. "Look, your hypothesis makes wild assumptions to explain something which is really easy to explain with much less far-reaching assumptions. Something in the poison or the cure affected one elderly pony in a seemingly beneficial way, this is a very reasonable explanation. By your explanation, in contrast, there is somepony out there who casually and without breaking a sweat turned a pony younger through a dream, for apparently frivolous reasons. Even Twilight couldn't possibly do that, certainly not without a lot of sweat. If she or anypony could do that, then there would be no elderly ponies because they would all be flocking to Ponyville and leave again like spry young fillies and colts. If such magic exists it has huge consequences, and you won't just run off and find it like that because in all likelihood it is extremely well guarded and isn't granted without a very good reasons. More to the point," Patch said, taking a breath after his little tirade. "what is really important right now is to one, get the recipe sent out to every place that needs it, and two, find out what the hay caused this poison to spread in the first place. If it has spread all the way to Manehattan it can't just be Twilight's little experiment down in her basement. Chasing dreams and fantasies can wait, as much as I find them fun to chase too."

[Forum Explorer]

We know something is going on in the Dreamlands. We also know that this 'poison' isn't the only way to get there. After all that book did say that it was possible to get there through your dreams. Twilight didn't want to be woken up either and made it sound like she had some important work to do still.

Though a thought just occurred; the antidote are any of the ingredients related to Poison Joke? That weed has the magic to rewrite ponies physical traits with the slightest touch.

As for what we need to do; one is as easy as writing a letter. Two is a mystery. One that if I'm right is based in the Dreamlands anyways. So yeah I'm going to see if I can figure out a way inside and I'm going to track down this Horse Father guy and get some answers!

With that Firefly takes off, headed back to the library. Once he arrives he immediately starts looking for additional books on the Dreamlands.

Do you need a roll? Lets see if I can remember how this works.

3d6 right?

[roll0] Vs Observation of 15 or IQ 13

[Deadly]

Patch rolled his eyes. "Fine, run off and get yourself in trouble. Just don't expect my help," he yelled after the apparently highly impatient and rash pony. With a final shake of his head he turned to whoever else was still around, "I'm going to go find Rainbow Dash and see if she can deliver the recipe where it is needed."

And off to find Rainbow Dash he went.

((Did the antidote contain Poison Joke? I suspect not, but I don't think its ingredients were ever specified))

[mikeejimbo]

There is no Poison Joke in the antidote, although Patch does know that some of the slightly poisonous ingredients that were involved in the original are also related to Poison Joke, albeit not closely.

Rainbow Dash isn't hard to find. She's been watching the situation closely - after all, some of her best friends have been affected by it. As a mare more inclined to action, she's been pacing around uncomfortably.

"What can I do!" she practically yells at Patch.

Meanwhile, Firefly searches for books on the Dreamlands. They aren't extremely hard to find, and he in fact finds about three. The Dreamlands, a Primer, Unleashing your inner power through dreams, and Notes on the Dream Lands by Seabiscuit the Sage.

[Istari]

Following Firefly back to the comfort of the library, Novello will quickly look over the books Firefly picked out for anything useful.

Speed Reading - 15
[roll0]

[Deadly]

"Can you get this recipe to Manehattan, and anywhere else they may need it?" Patch asked, handing Dash the scroll with the antidote recipe

[mikeejimbo]

Rainbow Dash is willing to take the recipe to Manehattan, and once she knows who to take it to, she sets off, speeding away.

Meanwhile, Novello seems to learn some disheartening news, although it may explain a bit of what - or why, at least - Twilight was doing. Apparently, to purposely travel to the Dreamlands in one's sleep requires a lot of practice and training. Perhaps she was working on a spell that would let them take a shortcut.

[Forum Explorer]

Firefly begins reading Notes on the Dreamlands. He takes his time but is mostly looking for details on Papa Cheval.

[mikeejimbo]

Firefly's search doesn't reveal anything about anything named Papa Cheval, but he does read that there may be creatures who live mainly, or even solely, in the Dream Lands.

[Deadly]

Patch watched Rainbow Dash speed away, then looked around while pondering. The sickness had somehow spread to Manehattan and possibly elsewhere too. Or perhaps it had spread from Manehattan to Ponyville. If this Team Spirit friend of Zecora's had traveled through Manehattan, perhaps she was the carrier. It didn't make much sense, the poison had been made in Ponyville, but somehow it had also affected ponies in Manehattan.

There was only one place to find more answers, and they may not have much time. Patch turned and headed back to find the others in the library. "I am headed to Manehattan," he announced as if to ask if anypony else would be joining him, "Somehow it got there, or started there ... there must be some connection and I'd like some answers before more ponies start falling asleep or worse."

[Forum Explorer]

I suppose we should learn how to get there properly rather then taking the short cut Twilight used. Hey do we still have that recipe? Lets try making a batch just in case.

[mikeejimbo]

Patch is probably the best pony to make the antidote, isn't he?

[Deadly]

"I should be able to make some more, as long as we have enough ingredients," Patch said. "It is probably a good idea to leave some behind at the hospital."

[Forum Explorer]

I want to make some of the poison Twilight used to get to the Dreamlands. Do we know enough of the recipe to do so?

[Deadly]

[Do we know anything about the recipe at all? I don't remember]

Patch looked incredulous and took a long breath. "You want to make more of the poison that might have caused all this mess? I really don't think that's wise until we know more about what happened. We don't want to put more ponies at risk."

[Forum Explorer]

I'd take every precaution in keeping the poison secure. But we need to find out how this poison is spreading. Making a sample ourselves would be the best bet in finding out how exactly it works.

[Deadly]

"I very much doubt that Twilight and her friends didn't also take precautions dealing with such toxic materials, and yet somehow the poison still spread all the way to Manehattan and perhaps even further. We're dealing with something highly volatile, we can not be sure that it is possible to contain it safely. Playing around with this is extremely irresponsible! We need to know more before we even consider it, at the very least we need to check out the other places it has spread to."

[Forum Explorer]

That's my point. If the source is the poison then we need to figure out how it's spreading. But fine. We'll play it your way for now.

In the meantime I'm going to learn how to get into the Dreamlands the hard way. Firefly grabs the books he's found and grabs some of Twilight's saddlebags. How are we getting to Manehatten anyways?

[Deadly]

"Absolutely, we need to find out how it happened and how it works. But the best way to do that is not to blindly experiment with something so volatile and potentially dangerous. Perhaps we've just been lucky that sleeping is the worst that's happened so far," Patch said, wanting to stress how insanely dangerous Firefly's idea could turn out to be. "Anyway, we might have to take the train."

[mikeejimbo]

It's easy enough for Firefly to find a saddlebag that will fit the books. Unfortunately it's not quite as easy to check the exact train schedule, but there are often trains for Manehattan,