Silly Plots 4: It's not particularly silly, is it?

[bc56]

Jade accepts the blessing gratefully. Normally, she'd be skeptical of its effectiveness, but given all the magical craziness that happened to her in the last few weeks, she's not about to disbelieve.

Much like Marin, Jade is experiencing some unexpected side effects from the blessing. Its beautifying magic resonates with her curse and ever so slightly amplifies its power. Not much. Jade's appearance doesn't change. But the curse is stronger now. Just stronger enough to begin leaking through the seal on it. I'm sure nothing bad will come of that.

[5a Violista]

Obviously nothing can go wrong with strengthening sealed curses and making them leak everywhere.

"Hmmm...that's a good question," Marin muses. She relaxes in the spring and considers the pots. "You'd think there would be, right?"

But...
"What if it's, like...dependent on atmospheric conditions or something? Like, so, the holes are open to the air, right? So maybe the temperature of the air or something might affect it. Or. Other possibility, maybe the configuration of the pots just links two specific times together." Or the pots are going to be removed, yeah. That's also an option.

[Recaiden]

Nothing weird seems to happen to Honeysuckle. Nothing particular going on with her tails, no flare of magic from around her blindfold, nothing on fire.
She's just blessed.

After thinking about the pots, she quickly decides there are too many possibilities.
"Can ask about them on the way out."
"What'ya think - done here?"

[bc56]

Jade feels pretty good now. Not just because of helping people. She feels more comfortable in her body than ever. This spa day has really helped, and the blessing probably too. She stretches luxuriously as she rises from the pool. "I'm ready to go whenever you two are." Wasn't there something about free gifts too? Jade isn't really thinking about it. She's hearing her own voice as if for the first time. She has such a lovely soprano pitch. How did she never notice that before?

[5a Violista]

While Marin is growing a new tail, it's pretty slow and it will only be barely noticeable until they get on the train, so she won't notice it until even later.

So,
the catgirl stands up. "Yeah, I think we're done here. Wait much longer, and I imagine there'll be a rush of people, or something." Plus, there's been too much heat on her so Marin isn't sure she could really handle this for a while longer.

So, she goes back to the nearby changing room, puts on clothes, readjusts the scarf, and (if she's the first one changed), waits so they can go down the trail.
At the bottom, they'll be given complimentary at-home beauty treatments that you can do, along with instruction booklets.

And they can ask about the pots, too. Better ask specific questions, since generic questions about them will just reveal that they're old cultural relics that used to have a very important part in the local culture but that was far too long ago so there's just theories and speculations about what sort of ritual or rite or whatever they were made and used for. Their creation basically dates back to back when the town started to grow faster. And, apparently, they meant a lot to the town's first queen.

[Recaiden]

Sounds like they're done then.
Honeysuckle goes to get dried and changed, feeling good about things after all.

Then, after collecting some beauty supplies, it's time to investigate.
Questions like : 'do all the hot springs have them?', 'is no one making any more these days?', 'where can I get one?'

[Rebonack]

[The Derricks]

There's a sensation of falling.

Thankfully it doesn't last long.

Jade lands on metal catwalk, the tar surrounding her absorbing the brunt of the impact. A thankful thing, since a fall onto an unyielding metal surface from any significant height is quite the hazard. The tar is, of course, probably ruining her clothes. Had she left the bag with the dress back at the shoe shop? That feels so long ago now. It's trying to pry its way between her fingers to take the amulet.

A stroke of good fortune that's the only thing the tar-nightmare is after.

But that leaves us with a question.

Does Jade yield the pendant?

Or does she clench her fist tighter?

[bc56]

Jade closes her fist tighter and lashes out with her free hand at the tar creature's head. If it wants this amulet so bad, it must be important. Her clothes are, of course, ruined. The tar is never going to come out. Such a shame. It was a nice skirt too. The bag containing her other clothes must be nearby. She was holding it, but lost her grip on it when she fell. Hopefully those aren't also all tarred up.

[Rebonack]

[The Derricks]

That poor tarred up skirt.

Jade punches the tar monster in the face. This has exactly the effect someone might expect when it comes to punching things made of goopy, semi-solid stuff. It's like punching mud. Very angry, very aggressive mud. It hauls back with both fists to make a battering slam-

-only to get blindsided with a buck from Morning Glory.

Now, see, earth ponies are pretty strong. Much stronger than something so small and cute really has any business being. Probably some kind of ridiculous horse magic.

Though horse magic is no laughing matter today!

Because MG just manage to smack the tar baby hard enough to launch it off Jade and over the edge of the catwalk. How she managed to actually strike with any degree of force in spite of the thing's goopy body isn't immediately clear, but chances are Jade might be relieved.

Morning Glory looks terrible. She's got tar in her fur and in her mane. And her saddlebags are gone, too. And, frankly, she looks absolutely terrified to be here. With the monster gone sound returns to the world. The clank of machinery, the hiss of steam, the low roar of flames as oil pouring out of a distant derrick burns and fills the air with choking black smog. Oil and tar drip from every surface. It hurts to breath.

"We have to get out of here!" Morning Glory practically screams over the din of machinery. "We're in the Bottomless Pit! This place will eat us. We have to go NOW!"

The hole they fell through is gone.

Of course.

There's only smoggy black skies and belching smoke and tar-encrusted steel towers and walkways for as far as the eye can see. No sun shines in these skies. Only the occasional raging oil-fire provides illumination.

[bc56]

Jade stands shakily and looks around for the missing bag of clothes. "I agree. No need to stay here longer than necessary. I assume we need to go up?" Tar drips off her in sticky globs. She holds out the pendant. "Do you know what this is?" It seems important.

[Rebonack]

[The Derricks]

Jade's lungs burn.
What need have you to breath?
Her eyes sting.
Why do you need eyes to see?
And the tar coating her feels gross.
Your desire for comfort is weakness. Surrender your weaknesses. Drink deep and descend.
Morning Glory shakes her head. "I don't know what it is. It looks like... maybe something like that tar monster? Or maybe something from down here. The Bottomless Pit pulls. If something was taken from it then it wants it back."

Well.

That isn't ominous at all.

Morning Glory begins to ascend the spiraling metal stairs leading up the catwalk. The grating is full of holes, the edges puckered and sharp. She's thankful for her pony shoes right now. Oh sweet Saints she's thankful for her pony shoes right now. But Jade... Jade will find walking in heels on a surface full of holes difficult. And taking her shoes off will soon result in lacerated feet.
So soft. You don't need those soft feet here. Give them up. Drink deep and descend.
"This place will whisper to you," Morning Glory warns. "It'll try to get you to trade bits of yourself to it. It'll gnaw away your youness until only the Pit is left. Don't listen to it."

[5a Violista]

The answers include things like:

They are still being made, but the exact method they were being made was forgotten over the ages so they're not really authentic. But the newer ones are always more brightly painted with fancy designs and really well-made so they won't break. A whole lot of souvenir places sell them, all brightly colored and all, all over the town. There's also a couple second-hand antique shops that occasionally get a couple in, but they're usually older and less-durable and faded so there's no point in buying them there unless you really like old things.
...
Or, in other words, an antique shop would have the highest chance of buying one that was made using old techniques, unless you find a rich collector who (for some reason) is willing to part ways with one. Or whatever.

And they do have them all around all the springs. Apparently it was ancient cultural religious rite reasons, but they're largely put there for decoration and appearance, now that the old religions fell out of favor. Sometimes at some of the springs for children, they even put plants or grow small trees in the pots! At the more-frequented springs, they have the better-painted and fancier designs.

So,
yeah,
that's basically it.
If you want one as a souvenir, you could buy it probably anywhere.
If you want an authentic one, good luck finding one. Antique shop is probably your only option.

[Gnrlshrimp]

"YES! FOLLOW ME! TO VICTORY! AND JUSTIIIIICE!"

[Questing for JUSTICE!]

To victory and justice, Harold declared, as they set off.

One wonders how the troupe of MERCs following after him feel over the course of a several hour long journey to a rather picturesque hillside setting. Nestled amidst a light scattering of woodlands against the side of the hill, a small stone fort sits, tucked away, with only a narrow dirt path leading up towards the entrance. The whole scene seems tranquil, quaint almost. The sort of thing one imagines seeing an amateur watercolour painting of, or captured eternally as a picture on a postcard.

Someone seems to have attempted to dig a moat around the fort, but either for lack of planning or perhaps a quirk of time, whatever water was in it has long since gone, leaving only a dirt trench over which a drawbridge sits, lowered.

A hastily erected sign at the base of the path bears the words "Fort Hillfort" in a rather childish scrawl.

Harold and Sir Percival halt by the sign, peering at it, and up at the fort above them. "Look, Sir Percival! A SIGN! This may be some sort of VITAL CLUE!"

The horse snorts. "Uh, yeah. Sure. Neigh. This is, uh, probably where Harold and I should wait. They're definitely in there, and we're, like, pretty sure they, neigh, have got a whole buncha relics, including Harold's. They're definitely up to no good."

"SO GO FORTH AND SMITE THEM! FOR JUSTICE!"

The fort awaits atop the little dirt path. All seems clear, the drawbridge is lowered, there's no sign of any guards about and-

Hang on a second.

There appears to be something floating at about head height above the drawbridge.

The more eagle-eyed among the MERCs may be able to make out what looks like a roughly head-sized stone cube, floating and rotating slowly above the drawbridge. Well, maybe there is a guard after all then, but it's quite a peculiar one.

[Morty]

[Questing for JUSTICE!]

Fayyaad stops in front of the path, hands on his hips. The journey certainly took a while, but now that they're here, they can get to work.

"So the bandits are holed up in this fort? We should decide on our approach. It's not as if we can storm the place with the three of us."

[Recaiden]

Very interesting. So this person doesn't know what they have.
Assuming the pots work like they seem to.
A plan starts to form.

But there's no real hurry with it. These pots have been around approximately forever.
In the end, Honeysuckle says "Thanks!" for all the information about the cool local pottery, and they can be on their way!

"Great trip, right guys?"

[bc56]

Caldas da Rainha

"Yeah, it was pretty good." Jade seems to be wearing her clothes a bit differently, or maybe it's just something in her composure, but she seems more confident than when she arrived (and probably more attractive because of it). She lets the breeze play with her damp hair. "I had a lot of fun." It was good to indulge herself, and now that she thinks about it, it's good to be a woman too.

Derricks

"Let's just get out of here." Jade stumbles, the heel of her shoe slipping through a hole in the catwalk. Ugh. She doesn't have any other shoes to use, but she also doesn't want to be barefoot, not here. She'll have to deal with it until she can improvise something. "How do we get out of here?"

[5a Violista]

[Caldas da Rainha]

Coincidentally, Marin thinks it's good to be a woman, too.
...it's good for all three of them to be women, she thinks.

"Yeah, it was!" Marin says.

According to the schedule, the Riftline train will arrive shortly. And, ugh, her tail itches. It feels like the itch is spreading across her tail.

"The springs were nice, and the massages were fine, but I think the best part was probably the museum." Speaking of the museum, they still have their little pots they made, right? (I had forgotten about them until just now.) Marin's keeping hers with the complimentary beauty supplies she got. Hanging out with attractive and (more importantly,) friendly women was also a plus.


It's likely the reason why the pots are still around is because if you don't have them in a proper arrangement then the effect they give off would be really difficult to spot. As such, only really someone like Honeysuckle would be able to easily spot them without already knowing what to look for.

[Recaiden]

All the spa treatments probably didn't hurt Jade's current look either.

I think they have the tiny pots, but never got around to painting them, since they didn't want to take up any more of Jade's time.
Honeysuckle has tossed hers carelessly into her backpack. But I'm sure it'll be fine and not end up broken or anything.
She smiles a little wider upon hearing that the museum was Marin's favorite part. Success! Sort of!

"Definitely the strangest hot springs I've been."
It really got derailed there at the end. But in a heroic and intriguing way.
She's planning to come back next week, look into antiques. Maybe offer to replace the spa's old pots with colorful new ones. Something like that.

[bc56]

Jade definitely looks better than usual right now, and her curse makes her look pretty good most of the time.

Jade nods in agreement to the comment about strange hot springs. "It was relaxing. I liked it." She didn't care for the museum much though. It was nice, but not especially interesting to her. The massage and the hot springs were great, on the other hand.

[5a Violista]

[Caldas da Rainha]
Riftline Station

Oh, so Honeysuckle is the reason why they didn't run into any spirits from the future.
Makes sense.

Seems like Marin will have to get hers colored and glazed on her own. Probably Honeysuckle, too, assuming it stays fine and not broken.

"Well, I'd definitely like to go back to those hot springs some time. Maybe to find out which of all those different pools feels the best." Like, the green one? The reddish one? Ones with bubbling or no? Hotter or cooler? The ones with a mix of different waters? Would be a good experiment to test.


The train rolls in.
Before getting on, there's something she has to say to Jade: Marin turns to her. "Um...thanks for paying for me," she says. She looks down and away, and her cat-ears droop down in an apologetic manner. "And...and sorry if I made either of you feel uncomfortable." She did stare at them too much. But she got better over time!

[Recaiden]

Riftline Station

Since there weren't any spirits from the future, she eventually prevented there being any spirits from the future.
Of course. Perfectly sensible time travel stuff.

"Could be up for that. Hot springs here are really sprawling...could take a lot of trips." Although she's pretty sure already that hotter bubbling water is the best.

Honesysuckle waves a hand at the apology.
"It's fine." Although she doesn't sound entirely convinced that it's fine, really. She apologized and got better and was so embarrassed of herself thew whole time that it obviously wasn't intentionally rude.

"Our train!"
Great. Honeysuckle hops right on.

"Marin, what's with your tail?"

[Rebonack]

[Derricks]

"We ascend," Morning Glory replies as she continues climbing the spiraling stairs. "Yezekiel noticed the moment that I dropped out of the real world. She's probably going to... dig toward us? I guess that's the best way to describe it. She can't exist here since this place is too unreal. If... that makes any sense."

It sure FEELS real.

But also not?

There's a surreal dream-like quality to the place. It isn't consistent, for lack of a better word.

Which just makes it all the more treacherous.

The earth pony sets her eyes forward and soldiers on.

"She's going to make a breach for us to get back out. We just have to keep climbing until she does."

Not for long, though.

Our heroes soon approach the top of the derrick where oily flames burn, belching smoke into the sky. The heat is unbearable. Getting too close would be unwise.

Morning Glory squints through the haze. "There's another tower next to this one that goes higher. But its about an eight foot gap. Do you think you can jump that far?" she asks Jade.

[bc56]

Caldas da Rainha

Jade actually laughs at Marin's apology. "It's no trouble at all. I don't mind," she says comfortingly, and her posture as she says it should give Marin a very close view of her chest. Has anyone realized how different her demeanor is from when they started? "I'd come back here too. I like it."

Derricks

"Not in these shoes." Jade doesn't want to take her shoes off though. That would shred her feet. But this all feels like a dream.
"You were remade by dreams. Your beauty comes from your secret desires."
The pit is not the only thing that whispers to Jade.
"Give up a piece of your old self, and those shoes will be natural upon your feet."
She thinks. Her curse is still present, just sealed away. Maybe it could help her somehow? It was meant to turn her into a woman, so maybe she can get something from it by giving up something of her residual manhood? She seems to be considering it.
"You're so much better off like this. You will never recover it anyway. Give me... The memory of your first kiss.
Jade calls to mind a memory from her high school days. Jason was on a date with a girl who was more interested in him than he was in her. When they had finished eating, she grabbed him and surprised him by making out with him in the restaurant.
"Good. Let it go."
Jade stops. She seems certain that this memory will alter her curse in some way. But how? Is it worth it? She seems locked in thought and a little zoned out.

[5a Violista]

Riftline

"It's just -" Marin starts to continue the apology, but.
Jade.
Is.
Distracting.
...
Marin manages to tear her eyes away and almost laughs: Jade's intentionally teasing her, she figures. Ha ha. Very funny.
It actually is kind-of funny, though. Guess she deserved being teased like that. It was really great timing, too. "Glad you've gotten more comfortable, though," she tells Jade.



Speaking of her tail,
Marin pulls it around so that she could (gently) scratch along it.
"I don't know," she says, not quite worried yet. If her skin hasn't randomly been getting itchy really easy from random irritants, then she would have been more concerned. "It just suddenly started itching, along the top here and along it."

Wait.
How can Honeysuckle see itchiness?
"...Why?" she asks, actually starting to get worried now. "Can you see something?" Like, for example, how the tail bones appear to be splitting in two, like an amoeba dividing except really really really slowly.

[bc56]

Jade was indeed intentionally teasing Marin. She laughs softly when Marin finally managed to look away. "I guess I just needed some time to enjoy my new self." She looks at Marin's tail with a little concern. "Something's definitely happening. Feel this?" She tries to grab the end of the tail and put her finger into the space between its two tips.

[Recaiden]

"We'll all come back sometime."
Honeysuckle declares. Everyone is in favor of it, after all.

"Bones all stretched out. Just a growth spurt, maybe?" She doesn't want to worry Marin. Didn't think it was anything serious when she asked.

[5a Violista]

Marin freezes.
...
After all, someone did just grab her tail.

Luckily, Honeysuckle tells her it's not that bad, so Marin realizes that breathing is a thing. So, she breathes out. "O-oh. That's good."

She turns her head, to look at Jade's hand. "...Yeah. It, um, feels a little weird," she says, "but I guess a growth spurt could explain that."

[bc56]

Jade releases Marin's tail. "Sorry." Marin clearly didn't like that. She doesn't mention the fact that the tail is clearly splitting in two. It's probably nothing to worry about. Isn't there a thing where tailed people occasionally get extra tails? That's probably what's happening here. Jade doesn't know that it's only a fox thing.

[Recaiden]

Well it also happens to cats, and sometimes even dogs.
"Oh. Priest did include beautiful tails in that blessing on us."
Honeysuckle takes a moment to swish her own tails back and forth.
"What do you think, Jade? Her tail just looking better?" she teases.

[5a Violista]

"Thanks."
Marin actually doesn't like being suddenly touched. For some reason, people tend to do that with her tail and ears far too often, so you'd be forgiven for thinking she's used to it.

Oh!
Right!
The priest did say that.
"Your tails already look pretty beautiful," Marin tells Honeysuckle, "so that must be it. The blessing decided you already had it so it decided to make mine look bigger and better instead."