Celestia's Finest: Comrades in Arms

[Elbeyon]

Love spots the guards before they move to stop her. She greets them back, "Hello." She nods to the two bowls. "I was bringing some food to the hospital. I was hoping to have my meal there." She waits for their response.

[D.KnightSpider]

In the absence of any other direction, Longshot starts going through the captain's steamer chest and belongings.

Spoiler: Hmmm

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Perception
(3d6)[6][6][2](14) VS 16

[DigoDragon]

Rose sits to rest a few minutes, watching the waves. There are no other injuries needing her skills, nor any further leads to pursue on this cult. Love is hopefully talking to Seaworthy now (heh, there's a match) and Longshot has the book secured while he searches the captain's room. With no other matters for her to attend to, it's just waiting for the ship to arrive at the island. Though, considering the slow pace, she has time on her hooves. Rose decides to do the stupidest thing she can think of with this free time.

Rose teleports herself to the island.

Teleport: (3d6)[17] vs. Skill 10 (-5 for distance).

[Miltonian]

This is the guard's chance to feel important about himself. This is his chance to finally exercise what little bit of authority he has. He glowers down at Love and her food. "No eating in the infirmary," he says, "It's unsanitary."

The other guard lets out an almost imperceptible sigh, but doesn't disagree.

---

Longshot finds nothing suspicious. Then again, he finds nothing very personal or precious either. Everything is cookie-cutter and correct. Standard-issue gear, stuff that someone wouldn't miss if it got lost in an accident at sea.

---

Rose feels the magic take hold...but the spell wrests itself out of her control. She if flung, head over heels, spinning helplessly in magic-hyperspace, for a long moment. Then she feels reality grip her once more. As well as gravity.

She begins to fall.

Fortunately, it's a short one. She lands with a loud, dramatic 'SPLASH' in a pool full of warm water. Warm water and...rose petals? She hears a gasp of shock and surprise as the other, and intended, occupant is hit full in the face with the wave of water. Rose struggles for a moment to get her hooves under her and then looks up into the face of Princess Celestia.

In the bath.

A very large bath.

And pleasantly warm.

Kind of scalding, really.

But still, in the bath.

Celestia stares at her for a long moment, eyes wide. Her mane is soaked and hangs straight down and her tail...well, her tail is still kind of floaty and flowy, but this time it's in the water instead of the air. But at the moment, the most striking thing is the very intense, red blush forming on her cheeks.

[DigoDragon]

Rose coughs to get air back into her lungs after the splash. She wipes the water from her eyes. There is... is... there are no words that could explain why Rose was staring at Celestia. In a bath tub. Presumably *Celestia's* bathtub. Now both ponies have rosy cheeks. This wasn't anywhere in the realm of landing 'off target'.

Rose spits out a petal to the side and clears her throat. "So, uh, would you like me to scrub brush your back for you? Your highness?"

[D.KnightSpider]

The situation struck him as true to the captain's character then again, what were the odds that some creature would leave a manifesto out in the open for any pony to find?

Having finalized his initial inspection, Longshot begins a more thorough search of the trunk and articles. Maybe he's seen Love do this enough to get by on his own.

Spoiler: Time to Fail

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(3d6)[3][2][6](11) VS 11 (Default from Perception)

[Elbeyon]

Love isn't going into the med bay to have a food fight. A food fight would be very unsanitary.

There is fun to be had in playing around. She sincerely smiles at him. "Yes, sir. I shall use my cleaning spell right away, sir." HouseKeeperLove's horn forms into existence. A feather duster brushes over the tray, herself, and a bit of the surrounding area. Love isn't trying to pull the wool over his eyes. The duster does actually appear to be cleaning.

After a few magical brushes, She nods in approval at herself and asks him, "Sir, would you like to preform another inspection? I hope you find my performance satisfactory and passing."

She notes, "Someone has to feed the hospital. Me feeding a spoon at a time can be quite tedious, but everyone has to be fed." The job Love volunteered for isn't exactly an envious one. Someone has to do it. She asks, "Sir. If you liked, would you like me to clean up the hospital a little?"

----------

Are they through the storm? Love has a bit of a work backlog.

She needs to text Discord that Longshot would like to speak with him. Love thinks its about the Secretary turning into a tentacle mass.
She needs to check on Star and everything at base.
She needs to research Essence (offline first).

[userpay]

Brazen breaths a sigh of relief as land comes into sight once more. Falling Brazen can deal with. Sinking? That was another thing entirely especially with the knowledge that there was some eldritch thing lurking in the waters.

[Miltonian]

Celestia's eyes flick between Rose and the scrub brush resting on the side of the very large tub. This thing could fit a whole class of foals! She clears her throat. "Given the situation, I think it best to make sure you are, in fact, Lt. Rose Croix before I let you touch me in any way. Wouldn't you agree?"

Whether she does or not, Celestia's horn lights up. She relaxes, but only slightly, when Rose's identity is confirmed. "Ah. So you are. Welcome, I suppose. To what do I owe the...pleasure?"

---

Longshot feels inside the suitcase and finds a hidden compartment. Not a well-hidden compartment, but it is one nonetheless. However, it appears to be empty.

Oh well.

---

The guard's eyes narrow. "Are you trying to make fun of me?" he says, a belligerent, hard edge to his voice, "I don't like being made fun of."

The storm is still interfering with comms, unfortunately.

---

The GM appreciates the use of the word 'eldritch'.

However, Brazen sees a pile of familiar looking gear. Everything that Rose was wearing lies in a heap near the front of the deck.

[D.KnightSpider]

Oh well, indeed.

Longshot shrugs, takes another look around the room and then sets off toward the upper deck.

It looked like they'd done all they could. Now they needed to get to the island and start blending with the local, er, warriors in disguise.

Spoiler: One More for the Road

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Perception
(3d6)[3][5][2](10) VS 16

[Elbeyon]

Love rapidly shakes her head at his question. "I'm complying with your instructions." She keeps her smile and raises the tray. "See, I sanitized." Love stares at the food. Her stomach grumbles. She is so hungry. She could eat both these bowls. She gives him an embarrassed smile. The food on the edge of her attention.

Love sees Brazen. Scomm (EDF), "Rose tried to teleport towards, I assume the island since she was facing that way, and catastrophically failed the spell. If all went right or mostly right her clothes shouldn't have been left behind. I think her teleport put her at least a hundred miles away. I have no clue where she went, but it's probably somewhere very far away. We should examine the spot with a Trace Teleport before it grows magically cold. If we're lucky, we'll find her location." Love pushes some information towards the group.

[DigoDragon]

Celestia's eyes flick between Rose and the scrub brush resting on the side of the very large tub. This thing could fit a whole class of foals! She clears her throat. "Given the situation, I think it best to make sure you are, in fact, Lt. Rose Croix before I let you touch me in any way. Wouldn't you agree?"

Whether she does or not, Celestia's horn lights up. She relaxes, but only slightly, when Rose's identity is confirmed. "Ah. So you are. Welcome, I suppose. To what do I owe the...pleasure?"

"Oh, right. Can't be too careful these days." Rose holds still for the magical identification. The hot tub was pretty hot though, so Rose had to clear her mind to ignore the discomfort.

Once Celestia was done, Rose had to answer her question and... she didn't have much of an explanation. "Well, your majesty, truth is I was on an EDF mission and we had just dealt with some kind of chaos cult. Children of the Scream I believe. Well, they had damaged the boat we were traveling on and I thought I could better spend the next 20 minutes scouting the island we're heading towards instead of waiting until we arrived. I attempted a long-distance teleport, and I ended up here. I guess my spell failed my, though it certainly cured the boredom of waiting."

[Miltonian]

Fortunately, they are drawing near to the island now. The crew begins to prepare for a landing. The town is in sight now, a small, ramshackle affair of driftwood and rusted tin roofs. It is neater than the Wasteland, though, and has an almost homey feel. It's where simple folk dwell, not murderous raiders or hardened survivalists.

---

The guard is neither convinced nor impressed. He glowers at Love and says, "I don't appreciate being mocked. That's twice now. Do it a third time and you'll find yourself in a very unpleasant situation, comrade."

---

Celestia's lips twitch upwards in a smile. "Yes, I suppose it has. Hmm, it does make simply returning you to your original location difficult, though. Especially since the boat is more than likely no longer at that exact spot. We wouldn't want you swimming in the sea."

The scrub brush levitates towards Rose and Celestia turns to lay on her side, back and wings towards her. She talks over her shoulder. "I will have to spend some time calculating the spell. I think it best we return you safely to your mission without involving anyone else. No need to cause either of us...unneeded embarrassment, tabloids being what they are. In the meantime, I will forgive this intrusion if you prove yourself a capable assistant."

[Elbeyon]

This is a very confusing exchange. She looks to his partner for help. Love isn't mocking him. Is this a prank? Is this guard playing a prank on Love? She tries to read the air.

[D.KnightSpider]

Longshot saunters on deck just in time to hear Love's announcement. He groans. Knowing their luck, Rose had probably teleported into an active volcano or something.

EDF Comm: "Roger, I'm heading there now."

A glance at the data sends him racing to Rose's last known location. Longshot whips past Brazen and pulls up short next to the pile of equipment.

Alright, so... Longshot mentally runs over the instructions on using their charm-- token-- things-- and tries discerning to where their nearly overweight medic disappeared.

Spoiler: Without A Trace

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Trace Teleport
(3d6)[1][3][2](6) VS 9/10

[DigoDragon]

Celestia's lips twitch upwards in a smile. "Yes, I suppose it has. Hmm, it does make simply returning you to your original location difficult, though. Especially since the boat is more than likely no longer at that exact spot. We wouldn't want you swimming in the sea."

The scrub brush levitates towards Rose and Celestia turns to lay on her side, back and wings towards her. She talks over her shoulder. "I will have to spend some time calculating the spell. I think it best we return you safely to your mission without involving anyone else. No need to cause either of us...unneeded embarrassment, tabloids being what they are. In the meantime, I will forgive this intrusion if you prove yourself a capable assistant."

"There will be no need for calculations," Rose says with a little bit of pride slipping out. "Before we embarked on the trip, I committed the griffon maps to memory. Just show me an atlas and I point out the fishing village to send me back to."

Rose takes up the scrub brush. She stretches her legs and back before setting to work; a little soap, a little lather, and a good amount of elbow leverage. "Well, this isn't the worst thing you've caught me doing, but all the same I completely agree to keep the tabloids out if this. She works a soapy lather down Celestia's back, making sure to get the wing-shoulder joints and being polite not to stare at places her eyes don't belong. She envisions RT watching as a little shoulder angel to make sure she behaves. Though honestly, she'd probably not tell anyone this story. Best keep it a secret.

"Princess Celestia, I hope that my actions in the last mission that led to capture of Hyper Thought and Andromeda is... at least a small start toward making up for the... changeling incident."

[Miltonian]

The guard, it seems, has mistaken her bubbly enthusiasm for sarcasm. And the worst kind, the kind that makes fun of him! His partner is no help, deciding to stay out of this.

---

Longshot's mind is filled with a certain location. Canterlot Castle, Royal Wing, Celestia's chambers...the bathroom. ...The bathtub.

Rose teleported herself into Celestia's bathtub.

---

"Hmm," Celestia says, leaning her head on the edge of the tub and closing her eyes. "Yes. An atlas. There are many of those around here. Though none of them are waterproof, so I suppose I will have to finish my bath first. How unfortunate for you, you appear to be my prisoner in the meantime. Breaking into my chambers is a serious offense, you know." She speaks lightly, teasingly.

Rose's question sobers her a bit, though she doesn't open her eyes. Her demeanor shifts into a more royal and businesslike one. "Everyone makes mistakes," she says in that motherly tone she uses with almost everyone, "And Chrysalis has several centuries on you. I was perhaps a little harsh. Forgive me."

[DigoDragon]

"Hmm," Celestia says, leaning her head on the edge of the tub and closing her eyes. "Yes. An atlas. There are many of those around here. Though none of them are waterproof, so I suppose I will have to finish my bath first. How unfortunate for you, you appear to be my prisoner in the meantime. Breaking into my chambers is a serious offense, you know." She speaks lightly, teasingly.

Rose's question sobers her a bit, though she doesn't open her eyes. Her demeanor shifts into a more royal and businesslike one. "Everyone makes mistakes," she says in that motherly tone she uses with almost everyone, "And Chrysalis has several centuries on you. I was perhaps a little harsh. Forgive me."

"I think that was an appropriate amount of harshness on a mare who flirted way outside her league," Rose replied. Lower back now, scrubbing those areas that can be hard to reach. "You have plenty of stress as it is keeping this nation together. You don't need a little troublemaker like me adding to that. Go lenient once and next thing you know it, I'll pop into your bathtub and scrub your mane full of conditioner." It ends on a light tone as well to match Celestia's.

[D.KnightSpider]

The urge to smash his head intio the wall is placated by a well executed face-hoof. He sighs. Alright, let it go, Scope... He'd promised Rem he'd try not to spazz so much after all.

Subvocal EDF comm: "Rose went back to Canterlot of all places... Maybe this was a disguised snack run."

Longshot begins gathering Rose's equipment. Perhaps he can find a blanket somewhere to fashion a bundle or something.

"Hey, Brazen, give me a hoof."

"We're getting ready to land." He says over the comm.

[Elbeyon]

Love shakes her head. "I wouldn't mock anyone. Especially, someone on duty performing their duty."

Scomm (EDF), "Canterlot!? That's a misfire. In Canterlot, she wouldn't have trouble contacting us if it weren't for this storm. She'll might even be able to get a hold of Star before us. She might be the only one that can contact Star. That's a long boat ride. Nothing we can really do." Rose was suppose to be the focus of their disguises, and she is MIA. They're a bunch of doctors without a doctor.

Scomm (EDF), "I hope she brings snacks. I've run out of snacks."

Scomm (EDF), "I haven't eaten yet. I'm so hungry. I should have eaten a bigger second breakfast. I'm having difficulty getting my reserved table in med bay. The guards are guarding the room."

Spoiler: Roll

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I'm not mocking you! Believe the truth!
(3d6)[7] vs 16 (Diplomacy)

[Miltonian]

"And that is a task you would be at all day," Celestia says, "Or at least for far more time than you can afford to lose from your mission."

Rose's efforts do not go unappreciated. Celestia eases into the scrubbing, allowing herself to enjoy it. However, it cannot last. When she is satisfied, the princess rises up, water cascading off her, and floats over several towels for herself and one for Rose. "Now," she says, "To find you an atlas..."

---

With Rose's equipment bundled away, Longshot is free to curse fate some more, offer Love some assistance, or take up the fine art of trolling. He could also try talking to Rem. Not that she'd be able to hear right now, but he could try.

---

The guard eyes her suspiciously, still expecting a joke. But he grunts. "Yeah, whatever," he says and steps aside, "Prisoner's not to be fed. You can go in though."

[Elbeyon]

No joke here. Just a failed attempt to spread some cheer.

She says to him, "Thank you. No feeding. Got it." She'll leave her food outside if it's not allowed to enter, or places it on a nearby surface whenever she enters the room. She doesn't want to be rude by eating in front of a hungry person.

She looks toward Seaworthy. "Hey." She approaches him and looks for a spot to sit.

Scomm (EDF), "I'm in the med bay now."

[DigoDragon]

Maybe Rose should invest in one of these brushes for herself. "Well, I suppose we can hold off on that punishment for when I complete my mission," she says, tongue-in-cheek.

She puts the brush down and exits the bath. Rose dries herself off, then wraps the towel around her head to dry her hair passively. Then, she follows Celestia, trying to watch for prying eyes so that she's not seen here.

Wait! Is she a doctor or an infiltrator? Haha, both! Rose will work a quick illusion disguise to look like one of the servants just doing servant things for Celestia.

Spellcasting: (3d6)[12] v. 15

[D.KnightSpider]

With Rose's equipment bundled away, Longshot is free to curse fate some more, offer Love some assistance, or take up the fine art of trolling. He could also try talking to Rem. Not that she'd be able to hear right now, but he could try.

Cursing fate has grown stale, he's in more of a mood to punch out Seaworthy than listen to whiny friendship speeches, the world isn't ready for him to start trolling others and, with his luck, Rem would actually answer and he'd interrupt the Wonderbolt fright fest.

Longshot picks up the bundle, sighs, and drifts along the side of the ship. All the while he wonders why they can't just arrive at the island already.

[Miltonian]

Love is allowed to bring the food in.

Seaworthy's eyes lock onto Love as she enters the room, though his face remains expressionless. He studies her carefully. "And what," he drawls, "Do you want?"

As for Longshot, the ship pulls up to the quay and the sailors begins the docking process. However, being a pegasus, he doesn't have to wait for them to finish. He can hop ashore whenever he feels like it. Only a few ponies are immediately visible, dressed as dockworkers in long, warm overcoats, but they are probably members of the Vedinian army.

----

Rose is both a doctor or an infiltrator. Though Celestia raises an eyebrow, she doesn't protest. They move into the princess' sitting room and she selects one of several very large books. With a few flips, she pulls up the page on Vedina and sets it before Rose. "There you are," she says, "Point and I'll send you on your way."

[DigoDragon]

Rose is both a doctor or an infiltrator.

Grammar not withstanding. She only managed a B- average in college Ponish.

Though Celestia raises an eyebrow, she doesn't protest. They move into the princess' sitting room and she selects one of several very large books. With a few flips, she pulls up the page on Vedina and sets it before Rose. "There you are," she says, "Point and I'll send you on your way."

Trust Rose. The gods of chaos are thirsty creatures. She searches the map for the fishing village they were to land at. Once found, Rose will point at it.

[D.KnightSpider]

From Longshot's perspective, there aren't any good options.

Going ashore means separating from the EDF and they're already splintered enough thanks to teleportation malfunction. Going to yack at Seaworthy would mean undermining whatever play Love has in mind. The Admiral will most likely be too busy to talk and no other NPC in sight has so much as a name.

Longshot props his forelegs on the ship's railing and waits for the others to be ready.

[Elbeyon]

Love studies him back as she takes a seat near him. Her eyes staring into his. A glance towards the corners of his mouth. She expected him in an unpleasant mood. Most ponies would be after a fight. "I want to know about your book, and your magic. You caused a distortion in reality." Love observes a few technical details about the magical forces needed to cause that. "I asked you earlier about your magic, but we were both busy at the time. I've not seen many people use magic like you did back there. You did a lot I've never seen. You have an impressive catch." She confesses, "I'm a curious pony. I see something new, and I want to learn about it. Was what you did a spell you know?"

[Miltonian]

It's a bit of a search, but Rose finds it. Celestia nods and begins casting first one spell and then the actual teleport. The first one, by Rose's observation, seems to be a scrying one that lets her see her intended destination. She takes her time preparing the teleport too, before nodding to Rose and tapping her with the horn.

Rose blinks out of existence and pops back into it a mere three feet to the left of the quay. She swears she can hear Celestia giggle before she begins falling.

---

"I have nothing to say to you," Seaworthy says quietly, face muscles moving on the bare minimum required to form the words, "Your curiosity is no concern of mine."

[DigoDragon]

"Wait, isn't a quay one of those retaining walls next to the--"

*SPLASH*

"...water."

Rose swims her way to shore, giving up on the illusion disguise. She pulls herself out, dripping streams of saltwater down her body and legs. Several messages pop up in her internal HUD, all dismissed with impunity as she wrings out the towel. Rose slaps the still-wet towel across her sopping wet back. She flicks a thick strand of wet mane out of her face.

"Fair cop."