Home 25: Still making mortgage payments

[Rebonack]

[Saunders Residence]

"You go to magic high school Isaac!" Melissa retorts. "That is way cool! That is way cooler than boring fourth grade math."

So much cooler.

How could anyone get bored going to magic school?

That idea is incomprehensible to Melissa.

"You do the magic classes and I'll be your amazing familiar. It'll be great."

Just great, Isaac.

Don't worry about it.

Also the cat is curling up on her pillow, it looks like her mind is made up. Don't forget that she's a cat, Isaac. She'll probably just sleep the whole day regardless.

[Deathkeeper]

[Saunders Residence]

"Magic theory isn't as fun as it sounds." Isaac says.
And then he tries to sleep.
He does after a while.
He might even get two whole hours of sleep before his alarm goes off!

[Rebonack]

[Saunders Residence]

Being deprived of sleep helps build character.

As Isaac heads up stairs he'll come in on the end of a conversation.

Between his parents.

And the cat.

"-and that's the story of how Isaac got our family banned from the pumpkin patch," his father concludes, followed by laughter from everyone involved.

Oh no.

They're telling embarrassing childhood stories about him.

"Good morning Isaac!" Melissa calls out, waving a tiny little kitty paw from her place on the couch. "We were just talking about you!"

Great.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Spako’s Tower]

Spako rolls his eyes and hands Sylvess the book before going back to his more delicate-fingered kobold shape.
”You’re lucky you’re cute, you know that? This is what we’re going to have to do. I’ll get the stuff. You look and see what you want to do. God has different aspects so we can do it a little different up in the lab.”
The book details the various aspects of W, including the Winter (mother) aspect, the spring (daughter) aspect, the summer (son) aspect, and the autumn (father) aspect, as well as noting that the aspect animal is more wild based on how full the moon is, flowing from wolf to horse to cow and other such animals. There’s also a small note on the side mentioning that performing a summoning wildly different from current natural conditions could produce...unstable effects.

[Spako's Tower]

Sylvess shifts down to his own little kobold form, sitting herself down to flip through the book. "W-well it's getting pretty cold out, Thanksmas has started again, a-and "mother" kind of seems like the most, um, appropriate form for w-what we want to...do. So, uh, Winter I guess?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Spako’s Tower]

Spako nods. Up in the lab, he lays out a bunch of candles, one magic circle (set into the floor already), a small stack of wheat, and a slice of meat.
”That’s basically it. Light the candles. Speak the incantation. Simple stuff. Uh, do you want to look natural for this one?” he’s not sure if it really matters. But having them looking like a normal kobold couple does obfuscate their issue a bit.

[Saunders Residence]

”Morning, folks. Morning, Lissa.” Isaac growls. Judging from the look on his face, he doesn’t feel very well rested.
”I have classes and I’ll probably be at my dorm for a bit, so you won’t have to worry about the ‘dungeon room’ for a while.” he tells the cat, as if nothing at all was embarrassing about the currently unfolding situation.

[Rebonack]

[Saunders Residence]

"Okay, tell me when you're ready to go," the cat purrs back. "I'll be in here getting to know your great parents."

"Did you want me to fix you some breakfast, honey?" Isaac's mother asks.

They don't seem to be freaking out about the cat all that much.

Maybe they don't mind the weird stuff quite as much as Isaac thought they did?

Or maybe...

Or maybe the cait sith has hypnotized them!

...

Is that something faerie cats can do?

[Deathkeeper]

[Saunders Residence]

Isaac considers. He has a meal plan at the school but that would mean going to the school cafeteria. People have figured out by now he’s immune to transfiguration potions slipped into his juice but it hasn’t stopped people from trying.
”Yeah, that’d be great, Mom.” he decides.
Maybe if Melissa is good she might get some bacon. Even though she’s a faerie who eats souls and not meat.

[Rebonack]

[Saunders Residence]

Melissa doesn't eat JUST ghosts! That would be like a human eating nothing but their favorite food all the time forever.

It would stop being your favorite food in a hurry.

No, departed souls are just an important supplement to enhance a cait sith's eldritch power.

"Alright, let's see what we have," Sara says as she heads into the kitchen.

"So, familiars now?" Henry asks. "That's a new development. You must be making quite the strides in your studies."

"Oh yes," Melissa says, casually licking her paw. "Isaac is the sort to never forget a lesson."

"We have bacon and sausage," Sara calls from the kitchen. "Do you boys have a preference?"

The cat declines to comment on her not being a boy.

[Deathkeeper]

[Saunders Residence]

”Sausage, Mom. Thanks. And Lissa is a girl cat.” Isaac says, sticking up for Melissa.
At least he thinks she is. He can’t see why cait sith would have a rule about being male.
”It’s not a formal binding. It’s more of an arrangement than anything else.” he tries to explain, giving Melissa another look.

[Lord Magtok]

Ithuriel's Demiplane

"Well it was hardly an appropriate environment to just jump on someone and ravish them and- oh, goodness, just listen to us!" Ambriel might be able to be nonchalant about all this, Ithuriel is much less used to these kinds of discussions and her cheeks have turned a bright pink. "The wing thing is more than just a coincidence at this point, but no, you're right, I don't think I'm the sort of person to just jump on anyone with wings. I just...like her a lot, and it's confusing and weird and I don't understand what I feel or how I feel, or why I'm feeling anything."

She reaches over with one hand to pull Ambriel down onto her lap. "I've not exactly had the best experiences with any of this. I don't think it's because I'm a bad person, I'm just terrified of hurting you, and things have gone wrong before with everyone I've cared about. I already managed to lose you once. And then no sooner do I get you back than I screw things up again by getting preg-" She winces and cuts herself short. That still hurts too much to address directly. "I'm not very good at this."

"Oh no, none of that. I was there, Ithuriel; I'm the one who got you pregnant. Plus, I distinctly remember someone telling me that she had no way of knowing she wasn't barren anymore and that it wasn't anyone's fault," Ambriel insists, refusing to be pulled down into her lap so easily, and instead trying to turn the tables and pull her back up off the ground. It's not easy when she has all that angel strength and he's just a skinny little tin man, but he's certainly going to try his best.

"Listen, running all these what-ifs in your head isn't helping anyone. Neither of us are going to vanish again. Nobody's going to hook up with some other angel. What we are going to do is find Delilah, protect some kids, and accidentally get roped into doing some background stuff for an end-of-the-world plot while Magtok basks in the spotlight and saves the day, probably." If Ambriel sounds like he's seen this kind of thing before, it's because he probably has, and he wasn't too enthusiastic about any of it last time, either. "I can't do it alone, though. I need the Nexus's greatest hero cop if we're going to make this happen. Then we can figure out where to go from there and what we're going to do and everything's going to be fine," the fake angel argues, refusing to entertain any of this negativity and pessimism stuff for even a moment.

[Rebonack]

[Saunders Residence]

And thus morning is pleasant.

Melissa may or may not sneak some sausage.

Followed by a riveting day at school!

...wherein the cait sith spends most of the time asleep.

Isaac does get a few compliments on his cool new familiar, though.

From there it's just a matter of meeting up with Lucas and setting off to find some haunted locations.

Y'know, just finding ghosts to feed to the faerie cat.

What could go wrong?

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Spako's Tower]

"O-oh, uh, might be a good idea for us to both look natural? Otherwise I imagine this deity's gonna be very confused as to why or how a dragon would- y-y'know, w-with a kobold." Sylvie awkwardly stammers out. She shuffles back and poofs back to regular size.

"Probably a-also slightly less intimidating i-if the god doesn't tower over me? I- uh, do we know how big they're going to be?"

*****

[Ithuriel's Demiplane]

"Alright, alright." Ithuriel grumbles and lets herself be pulled up. "I'm sorry, Wings. I've got a pretty long track record of screwups. It's hard to just forget that, and not worry that I'm going to add to it." She sighs and puts a wing round him. "You're right though. Now's really not the time for self-doubt, is it? More important things to do. Alright, you go get your buddies started on searching. I'm gonna drop by VIGIL and see if they reckon they can take the kids in safely. They did us a solid helping out with all the crap in Inside, maybe I can impose on them a little more. Meet up in a while at- hmm, here or your place?"

[Rebonack]

[Carousel Court]

Okay.

Not technically somepony's home BUT Inside is super busy right now and this will soon involved somepony's home so good enough!

A pony steps off Riftline into the train stop before trotting off down the street, a little cart bouncing along behind her. Now, strictly speaking, a pony isn't exactly an uncommon sight. Nor is a pony pulling a tiny colorful cart at all unusual. There are plenty of them! Especially around Thanksmas or, as they tend to say here at Carousel Court, Hearth's Warming. There are plenty of ponies pulling around decorative, gingerbread house themed carts! Each and every one of them filled with wonderful Hearth's Warming treats and goodies. It's a pretty great way to advertise your wares. Just trotting around being jolly and someone is sure to get interested!

This particular mare isn't from Carousel Court, though. Hence the arrival aboard Riftline. Nor are her wares for sale. She's a pretty unremarkable looking earth pony with an earthy brown coat and a dark forest green mane. A little white trumpet shaped flower with a warm golden glow around it is emblazoned on her haunches. She's been here before every now and again. A common, though not daily, visitor.

Those who have spoken to her know her as Morning Glory, an upbeat pony with a sunny disposition.

She's moving with purpose today, though. Not to the markets to buy fresh produce, but rather toward the outskirts of the Court.

Morning Glory is a mare on a mission, you see. There's somepony she wants to talk to and, hopefully, share a little Hearth's Warming cheer with.

She trots toward the quaint little home of Down Feather, hoping that her friend is well.

[Lycan 01]

[Carousel Court]

It's a busy pony community, indeed. Lots of friendly faces, lots of Thanksmas cheer, and plenty of visitors of the equine and non-equine sort. Mixed in with the crowd, much to their chagrin, two pegasi from a different world are currently trying not to get squished by the ponies and merchants and colorful carts filling the streets.

"It's too cheerful here," the brown stallion grunts, reaching a wing up to adjust the black cowboy hat jauntily placed upon his unkempt chocolate mane. Also clad in a black vest and white shirt, the stallion has a silver coin cutie mark and a rather uncomfortable look on his scarred face. "Gives me the creeps, honestly."

"Oh come on," the blue mare alongside him pouts. She's eschewed any sort of outfit or uniform, preferring to wear her natural coat like most of the ponies in the Court and Nexus at large. "This is what pony society is supposed to be like. No violence, no killing, no constant fear and dread and random explosions." Aptly enough, it's hard to tell if her cutie mark is a sunburst or a flaming explosion.

"Meh," the stallion rolls his eyes. "Let's just get this over with, then get back to a more normal part of this weird Nexus place. Maybe see about getting our armor back," he grumbles.

"Look, if you want to go deal with the rats again, that's fine," she shudders with a grimace. "But I personally like it here..."

The stallion sighs. "Weirdo."

"Buffoon."

They narrow their eyes at each other. And then begin to trade insults, growing more and more rude and off-color. Eventually, a little profanity may start to slip out, drawing dirty looks and uncomfortable glances from the other ponies nearby. This will continue a bit longer, until somepony intervenes, or the two distracted pegasi stumble into somepony's colorful cart as they mind their own business...

That, or somepony should start taking bets on who will win the inevitable fight.

Spoiler: references!

Show

The mare is on the left, the stallion is in the center.

[Rebonack]

[Carousel Court]

"It's a lovely winter bouquet, I'll take two," Morning Glory says to a friendly flower pony, trading a few fat bronze coins for some flowers that she turns to set atop her cart-

-just in time for a pair of pegasi to blunder into it. There's a jangle and a sloshing sound inside the colorful cart, the sound of bottles bumping into each other and booze being shaken. It is, no doubt, a sound that Lucky is well acquainted with. The disturbance causes the scent of alcohol to waft into the air.

In a display of that uncanny earth pony flexibility, Morning dives for the flowers, catching one on the end of her nose and the other on the small of her back. Both bouquets now balance there on their ends, wobbling a little bit in the chill evening breeze.

"Uh... howdy!" the mare calls out, flashing an awkward smile from her position prone in the freezing street slush. "Fancy running into you two today!"

That's a joke.

Since they ran into her quite literally. Or at least into her cart.

She quickly straightens herself, tossing the flowers onto her cart with a nod and a buck, then frowns at the icy water dripping off her barrel. It looks cold. And she looks like she's trying her best not to be cross about it and generally doing a pretty solid job of it.

"You two sounded like you were having quite the argument," Morning Glory observes. "Friends shouldn't be fighting this time of year. Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

[Lycan 01]

[Carousel Court]

When the pair of ponies bump into the cart, they both let out terrified screams. The mare recoils in shock, while the stallion reacts a little more quickly when he realizes they just knocked over somepony's cart. He makes a frantic dive, trying to catch falling bouquets. However, the mare who owns the cart also dives for them!

With a horrified yelp, the stallion flaps his wings, propelling himself just over the mare and barely avoiding squishing both her and her flowers.

Instead, he ends up doing something of a mid-air frontflip and hurls himself into a trash can. There's a loud clattering crash, and he's left mostly in the can, with a jumble of wings and hooves jutting out the top. His hat flutters through the air, and lands on top of the stranger's head.

Meanwhile, the blue pegasus mare looks utterly mortified, her face turning pink with embarrassment and shame. "OhmygoshI'msosorry!" she blurts out, jumping forward to offer the mare a wing to help her up off the ground. "Sorry sorry sorry! We should have been paying more attention!" she apologizes profusely. "And we're not really fighting, we're just... sibling rivals? I don't know if cousins count as siblings," she mutters, before shaking her head. "Anyway, sorry! We didn't break anything did we? Oh I'm so embarrassed..." she whimpers.

"Sorryyyyyy..." comes a muffled groan from the trash can.

[Rebonack]

[Carousel Court]

Oh wow.

That's some pretty impressive screaming.

Also impressive...

Umm... twirling through the air and landing in a trash can?

Morning's eyes just kind of... track Lucky as he goes whizzing over her, followed by a wince at the crash. She smiles sheepishly at Dawn's blathering apology.

"Nothing's broken! Just a little surprised is all. Though I probably shouldn't be. I could have been paying more attention, too, but I was distracted by these lovely flowers," the earth pony replies, giving another appreciative nod to the flower pony-

-who's giggling at the discombobulated pegasus in a rubbish bin.

Morning flicks her ears back and forth a few times until the hat settles.

Resist.

Must resist impulse to steal hat.

"So you're family?" Morning asks. "That's great! Being with family during Hearth's Warming is the best. It's a great time to remember to be thankful for the wonderful people we've been blessed with as friends and family. That's why I'm here, actually. I just got back from a big Thanksmas party and I noticed that a friend of mine wasn't there. It got me a bit worried, since a mutual friend who nearly never leaves her side was there but she wasn't. So I thought I would pay Down Feather a visit and make sure she's okay. I guess she came from a super depressing version of Equestria and probably needs more tender kindness and friendship than most."

[Lycan 01]

[Carousel Court]

"No, it's our fault, really," the blue mare says, ears pinning back as she shakes her head. In the background, the stallion feebly thrashes around in the trash can. "But yes, Hearthswarming Eve is a nice holiday. We never really got to celebrate it back home, not properly at least. We're kinda the only family we've got, so..."

Her voice trails when the mare mentions Down Feather, and her eyes widen a bit in startled surprise. "Wait, did you say Down Feather?"

There's a muffled yell from the trash can, and the thrashing increases. As a hoof kicks wildly, the can begins to tilt back and forth, before finally falling over with a loud thud. It then begins to roll a bit, the pegasus' flailing and screaming inside it only seeming to slowly increase its momentum.

The mare doesn't seem to care. "We're friends of hers! From the not nice Equestria where everything is terrible and wants to eat your internal organs!" she exclaims, much to the shock and queasy discomfort of several passer-bys. "Do you mind if we tag along? We've been looking for her ever since we got to the Nexus!"

The trash can is about to do its best impression of a tumbleweed, much to its occupant's dawning horror.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Carousel Court - Down's Lair]

It's less a home and more a place she lurks.
Lair.

Anyway.
Some distance away from the goofiness of those three up there, Down Feather angles a sloppy flight down towards her balcony, clipping a hoof on the railing and crashing in through the window.
A small streak of blood is left on the edge and she groans.
"Sonnuvaburningstarfirecrapbasket..."

She slips further into her lair, rummaging around for her stock of surprisingly (okay, maybe not for this city) efficient healing potions.

It would be pretty fantastic if the rest of the day was quiet, boring, and full of absolutely no one at all bothering her.

[Rebonack]

[Carousel Court]

Morning gives a dismissive flick of her tail. "Don't worry about it, there's no harm done. A little cold water won't hurt me, anyway. Just a nippy encouragement to get in front of a nice warm fire!"

And then?

A huge grin spreads across her face!

"Oh wow, really? That's wonderful! I've been trying to break through to Down with Bubblegum Confetti's help. Down has really only had Persimmon for regular company and he's..."

Awful?

Nauseating?

Irritating?

"A bit of a high-maintenance friend."

Sure. That works.

"Only your internal organs?" the mare asks quizzically, then laughs. "I was under the impression things like hydras would eat the rest of you, too. But I know what you mean. I met Down as a result of the skinwalker crisis we had last year. Thankfully we managed to solve it mostly via the application of copious amounts of fire. I got my tail set alight a couple times."

It was exciting.

"Come on, I'll show you the way to her house," the mare says as she trots past Lucky's trash can, giving the back end of it a solid kick to launch the pegasus out before it can start bouncing down a nearby hill and into a schnoz-berry patch. "I'm Morning Glory, by the way. It's nice to meet you both."

And a few minutes later?

[Carousel Court - Down's Lair]

There's a knock at Down Feather's door.

"Down? It's Morning Glory. I brought some friends this time. Also my mobile mini-bar."

[Chaotic Bob]

[Carousel Court - Down's Lair]

Literal minutes later, knocking. Of course there's knocking.
This city thrives on such horrible coincidences, part of a long list of grievances she has with the place.

Better not be Bubblegum again, or she's getting another beanbag tossed at her.

"Uuuurrrrgh."
More akin to a zombie than a functional pegasus, she sort of...slithers back over to her balcony and pokes her head over the railing.
She completely missed that she sets her neck down on the blood streak, staining even more of her fur.

Not that this is actually that easy to do.

Anyone that bothers to look up will see an incredibly bloody looking mare, with the tatters remnants of some high tech helmet hanging from her head, a rapidly emptying flask of purple liquid in her teeth.
"Ohfu."
When she sees those below, she curses around the edges of said flask.
"Nooooooooooooooo."
Then she'll slither back into her home and (eventually probably?) make her way towards the door.

But it's going to be a minute.

[Lycan 01]

[Carousel Court]

The blue mare grimaces. "Skinwalkers? I've never met one myself, but I've heard stories, and... seen surveillance footage..." she shudders. Her ears then perk up. "Oh, right! Introductions!" She trots along after Morning, her demeanor brightening considerably. "I'm Dawn Break! My special talent is improvised explosive devices! But I'm also good at first aid and martial arts. And-"

She pauses as Morning kicks the trash can, and Lucky is launched out. He staggers up to his hooves, a few french fries stuck in his mane. He frowns, and begins to brush it clean with a wing. "I'm Lucky Break," he says with a sheepish smile. "Sorry 'bout earlier, by the by."

"His special talent is defying the odds, and sheer dumb luck," Dawn sighs. "Good and bad. Makes him impossible to kill though, so he's at least somewhat useful," she winks playfully. Lucky just rolls his eyes, and falls into trotting alongside them. "And if Down ever mentioned him, whatever she said is probably true..."

Hopefully she said nice things. Probably not.

[Carousel Court - Down's Lair]

Dawn and Lucky stand back a bit, not wanting to startle Down if/when she opens the door! However, at Morning's introduction, Lucky raises an eyebrow. "Wait did she say mini-bar?" he whispers to Dawn. While it may be relevant to his own interests, he can't help but feel a little worried as to how Down's drinking habits may have changed since they last saw each other, likely for the worse...

And then Down appears! Poking her head over the balcony, briefly, and then disappearing. And apparently oblivious to Lucky and Dawn, or at least showing no real reaction.

"Yeaaaaah, that's not good," Lucky grimaces.

Dawn fidgets a bit. "Maybe I should let you handle this one?" she mutters.

[Rebonack]

[Carousel Court - Down's Lair]

"Extreme luck?" Morning replies with a knowing smile. "My husband has a knack for that, actually. It's gotten him into and out of quite a bit of trouble over the years."

Wow.

So she has experience with someone like Lucky?

Well. Not like Lucky. There really isn't anyone like Lucky at the end of the day. Pony magic has a tendency to really exaggerate things, after all.

"I've got a talent for gardening. I keep a little garden on the roof of Trog's Tavern where I work. I grow quite a few of the ingredients I use for cooking. Nothing like a little special something to add some love to a recipe," Morning Glory explains. "I'm pretty multi-talented. I'm the cook, the baker, the barmare, the manager. I've even had to act as the tavern's bouncer since Baby moved on. I really do need to put up some help wanted posters..."

And now?

A bloodied pegasus peeking out of the window.

Nope.

That isn't good at all.

Well.

Maybe a little bit good.

"I think she recognized you," Morning says as Down vanishes again. "If she didn't, she probably would have lobbed a beanbag at me."

It is a familiar greeting by now.

[Lord Magtok]

[Ithuriel's Demiplane]

"Alright, alright." Ithuriel grumbles and lets herself be pulled up. "I'm sorry, Wings. I've got a pretty long track record of screwups. It's hard to just forget that, and not worry that I'm going to add to it." She sighs and puts a wing round him. "You're right though. Now's really not the time for self-doubt, is it? More important things to do. Alright, you go get your buddies started on searching. I'm gonna drop by VIGIL and see if they reckon they can take the kids in safely. They did us a solid helping out with all the crap in Inside, maybe I can impose on them a little more. Meet up in a while at- hmm, here or your place?"

Ambriel looks just a little concerned when she mentions VIGIL. The Magtoks were there when the organization started; they helped make the merger with HALO possible. Then HALO immediately broke up with Watch, demons blew up the Watchtower building, and...somehow there's still a group calling itself VIGIL? None of that makes sense to him. If the combination of HALO and Watch is VIGIL, then how can there be a VIGIL after its two component parts were taken out of the picture? How can there be a HALO and a VIGIL? It's nonsense, is what it is. That evil demon dimension still exists, too, which is utterly disgraceful. Back in the old days, the Nexus would've sorted out something like that in like three months, tops. That's why you don't hear from Calublufiok, Rein Prime, Aleks or Stu anymore.

"Are you sure they're not safer if they stay put? You could ask VIGIL to come here and babysit, maybe, but letting them out of a pocket reality you have so much control over?" Maybe he's got an inflated sense of what Ithuriel is capable of in here, but removing them from the demiplane really doesn't sound like the best idea to Ambriel.

[Deathkeeper]

[Spako's Tower]

"Nope, but from the depiction I'd say about our height." Spako says, snapping his fingers to light the candles and then going back to dragon shape.
The incantation is, as he said, surprisingly short. It's only a few words growled in some old language.

The effects are immediate. The temperature drops in the room as the light dims. In a sudden burst of snow that fizzles immediately in the still-somewhat-warm air, a figure appears in the circle. The dragons get a quick glimpse of a matronly woman connected to a large bovine shape before the air snap-freezes around her, forming a glittering, icy top for her.
Perhaps quite alarmingly, she immediately steps out of the circle and begins inspecting Sylvess up close. He'll get a very close view of the pale woman's face, her bovine ears and horns, and the stereotypical dairy-cow body she has from the waist down.
"No one ever wants to speak to the horse. I guess I should just be happy one of me is popular." she grumbles, before smiling as she examines Sylvess and Spako.
"Shiny ones, aren't you lads? I'm afraid you just missed Wick. But I'm sure I can still manage. What can I do for you boys?" asks the cow-taur goddess sweetly.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Carousel Court - Down's Lair]

It's really not hard to hear the banging and crashing on the other side of the door, along with a (familiar to most) litany of increasingly colorful curses.

Yes it's rude to make people wait at your door when they come visiting. But so is dropping in unannounced with a short-list of people she maybe-cares-about but hasn't seen in awhile.
So it's entirely probable a lot of things are getting shoved in closets, under furniture, into cabinets, demolished armor tossed...somewhere hopefully unnotable, and-okay this is taking too long now.

After an ominously long wait, the door finally creaks open, to the smell of alcohol and the sight a wet-maned-but-toweling-off Down trying to block the view of everything behind her. She doesn't do a great job, it's not hard to see most of the empty bottles on the table over there, or empty carry-out food boxes stacked up vaguely by a garbage can that should have been taken out a week ago.
Her towel is mostly coming away red and large patches of fur are missing in what look suspiciously like distressingly-large claw mark shapes, but she otherwise looks fine.

Just somewhere between annoyed and nervous.
So, as far as Morning Glory is concerned, already better than usual!

Her gaze starts there, at Morning, then flicks to Lucky and Dawn, then the cart, back to Lucky and Dawn, Lucky, then back to Morning.
"Uh. Hey."

[Lycan 01]

[Carousel Court - Down's Lair]

Lucky and Dawn wait patiently! Albeit nervously. Well, Dawn isn't too nervous, but Lucky looks rather fretful. He shifts his weight from side to side, his gaze wandering constantly between the door, his companions, and the dirt. Occasionally he looks up at an interesting cloud or tree. His ears perk at every sound from behind the door, before slightly drooping when it doesn't open.

Indeed, he seems much more fretful and nervous than excited. If Morning should happen to notice or make note of this, Dawn will tilt her head to the other mare and give a small wink, as if to say Yes your suspicions are correct.

Finally, the door opens! Both pegasi immediately perk up! They don't notice the mess behind their friend, or at least if they do, they pretend to not pay attention. "Hi!" chirps Dawn, a cheerful smile on her face as she tries to hide her concern. "Sorry to drop in like this! We, uh, kinda had trouble finding the place."

Not a lie, given the chaos and discord of the Nexus, and their misadventures since being accidentally summoned by their old friend Geneva.

Lucky, meanwhile, can only manage to crack a sheepish grin. "H-hey there?" he finally stammers out. "Y-yeah, what she said. Sorry to, uh, kinda barge in on ya like this. But we, um... thought you might... like some company?" Sheepish grin increases!

[Rebonack]

[Carousel Court - Down's Lair]

Dawn is flashed a knowing smile.

Oh yes.

Morning Glory can tell exactly what's going on here.

She's a bit less anxious and fretful as she waits. More... hopeful? Down displays a whole lot of self destructive behavior. How much of that is survivor's guilt? Her squad and family members had died horrific deaths in Vanhoover and she alone survived. Not only did she survive, but she found herself trotting around a relative paradise. Has Down ever pondered whether or not she did die after all and this is some kind of crazy after-life? If that were the case it probably wouldn't hurt so much.

Then the door opens.

And Morning immediately looks concerned. Down's hurt. Pretty badly, too. But after having spent some time with Down, Morning Glory knows better than to offer aid without being asked.

Speaking of not being asked!

"Hi Down. I was at the big Thanksmas party and noticed that Persimmon was there without you," she says. "Which got me worrying, so I decided to stop by and check in. I brought you a gift!"

She holds out a little garishly wrapped box about the size of a grenade. Hopefully it isn't a grenade.

"And I met some friends of yours along the way. Is it okay if we come in?" she asks. Maybe help clean up the disaster zone?

[Chaotic Bob]

[Carousel Court - Down's Lair]

Correction: she was hurt pretty badly. These are some top-notch potions she picked up (okay, was forced to take) and have clearly up most of the important damage.
Doesn't regrow her fur, but that'll come back eventually, probably.

Also probably the healthiest, non-alcoholic thing she's chugged down in awhile.
Which also segues into this being the least-drunk Down has looked in Morning's company...ever! In that she isn't drunk and it's clearly paining her, but she's keeping quiet about that particular detail.

She places an awkward sort of smile, the "I haven't done this in awhile, is this right?" kind.
"Right, yes, all of that."
This reply doesn't actually address any of the things said to her properly.

Down was not prepared for this bout of forced socialization, with this particular set of individuals, right after she finished technically-winning against whatever-the-hell-that-thing-was.
"Uh, I mean. Hello Morning. Dawn? Er, Lucky. Long time no see. For you two. Not so much for Morning."
Technically better, bit rambly.
Back to her roots, maybe.
"Could have given me some heads up though."
Okay maybe not. Being a jerk is a lot harder when you're not drunk and some half-drowned part of you actually wanted to see these folks.
"It's...not super...great. In here. Maybe not the greatest place for a hangout?"
Yeah okay, we're abandoning the jerk-thing it looks like. Okay. Lucky probably won't notice anyway. Dummy. (nailed it)

A hesitant hoof is reached out towards Morning's gift, as her internal babbling scrabbles for something more sane to stick with. Why is everything so hard when you're sober.
"Persimmon's been gone for awhile, not surprised it's a party's fault. Uh, hm. I...did not get anyone else gifts. Didn't plan on getting any either."
Better sentences. Perfect. Totally a socially functioning individual.

[Lycan 01]

[Carousel Court - Down's Lair]

Dawn smiles meekly. "Don't worry about gifts or anything. We're just happy to see you."

"Mhm," Lucky nods, cracking a sheepish grin. "Sorry for not givin' you a heads up. Would have tried to hail you on the radio, but last time I tried to use comm system I went deaf for an hour," he frowns.

"It started playing something called 'disco polka' music," Dawn shudders. "I had to hit him with a crowbar a few times to turn it off."

Sounds like a good reason not to call her on the radio, then. Nevermind the fact that Lucky and Dawn have both misplaced their power armor, and the radio systems installed within them. Best to not bring too much attention to that right now, lest Down have more reason to be impatient with the idiot stallion.