mylittlejamjar

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[The network opens to a shot of a light brown pegasus stretched out on the grass. It rolls this way and that, basking in the warmth of the sun, before its head rolls towards the scroll. The girl smiles a little before speaking.]

Hi!

I have to admit, it was a surprise to end up here from home! I thought it might have been a domain, at first, but. Well. I suppose being on a different world is fine as well! And at such an exciting time too! Aside from the Hunter's Tournament, Tokyo didn't have anything left like the Games here! I'm sure they'll be interesting. Is it always so exciting here?

And...

[She turns once more onto her back, looking up into the sky.]

It really is beautiful here, to see the sky for the first time.

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[Lucifer wonders for a moment if you're trying to lead the discussion Flare. If you're trying to find a way to pinpoint her, to lead her into revealing herself. Then again, she could be over-thinking it.

Either way, she can't help but answer the one way she knows how to.]

I think it is!

Even through all the pain, isn't it worth it to keep living instead of dying? Everyone deserves a chance at life, and to see if life can be made better.

[Flare might be leading the conversation, but no more than normal. That said, the infectious chirpishness is visibly starting to wear on the pegasus already, and she does her best to hide it for the sake of conversation.]

...Have you at least found a means to fight back? Being trapped in the middle of a battlefield you didn't ask for is no way to live.

[Again; leading, but not for the purposes of identification. After all, what were the offworlders if not exactly in that situation - trapped in the middle of a battle between the natives and the Pale Pony?]

We have.

The hunters take care of many of the most aggressive demons. The Ashura-kai, as well, help protect everyone and have found a way to keep many of the demons from eating humans through the use of Reds.

Of course. Protection like that has a price, unfortunately.

A physical cost, or the type of cost that those with power enforce on those without?

[...now she might be leading the conversation in regards to a certain chaos-fetishist's beliefs. Maybe.]

There isn't much of a difference in Tokyo, I'm afraid. And the Ashura-kai control so much territory that there's few areas where there word isn't law.

Unless you're a hunter or a hunter's family, you can take chances with the demons or rely on the Ashura-kai. There's only a few who can find another way.

If nothing else, you can rest easy here. The battles that wage on beneath the veil in this world are much less life-and-death.

[Mostly because they're more "life" and "unending zombie servitude", but details.]

I'm glad.

[She smiles again, cheerfully.]

It seems like a much kinder place. Maybe I'll miss home later on, but I think I could be here for now.

I'm Hikaru! It's so nice to meet you!

[Shame that Flare doesn't know Neighponese - that name would be a dead ringer if she knew what it meant. If you'd been a griffon named Morgenstern she would've pegged you instantly.

But no, this is, for now, just a pony named Hikaru. One with a mildly unsettling smile, from a Tokyo hellscape where angels and demons fought constantly.

Coincidences, as it stands.]

Flare Star. I work as a bouncer down in Ponyville, but I'm an offworlder just like you.

Edited 2014-08-07 21:38 (UTC)

[Interesting. Lucifer was afraid that he might have dropped it too much. That she doesn't expect for sure, not quite yet...that could be useful.

But even s/he would be a liar to say there wasn't a part of it that wanted to reveal itself to Flare.]

A bouncer, huh? That sounds like a tough job. But you look like you're tough enough for it. I wouldn't think clubs would be in a world like this, too.

I guess you have to adjust your expectations sometimes!

Maybe I could be a bouncer too!

[Is she playing with you? Making some kind of weird joke? Or just kind of an idiot.

It's hard to tell.]

Bars more than clubs, but same kind of idea. Don't know a world out there where there aren't people wantin' to drink their troubles away.

And hell, maybe y'could. I guess it depends on if you can hold your own in a fight.

[That's a compliment, Hikaru. Sort of.]

S'just kind of what seemed natural for me, is all.

It seems like everywhere has their troubles!

[She giggles a little, shyly. But at the second statement...]

[For a brief moment her smile becomes even more worrisome. A little less constant and a little more sly, clashing against her features. It's gone after a moment, but it was certainly there.]

[And then she just giggles again. A little louder than before.]

Oh, I think I'll pass. I've never really been in a fight before. It'd be a little too dangerous a line of work.

It's always good to find where we fit, though!

[Oh, don't think she didn't see that, filly. She may still be focused on her studies about the Pale Pony, but she's gotten sleep lately. Slight suspicion crosses the mare's face, but it quickly passes.]

[At the same time, when someone makes a tell that obvious, you don't just call the bluff. You try to milk them for more, make the pot bigger. The shift to private statements is subtle, and unannounced. ~~This time, she's fishing.~~]

You know... it always struck me as strange. All the stories of angels and demons, and none of them seem to have any sense of family... even when they create the life of others. There's no compassion, simply production. Life created not to be nurtured, but to be thrown into a melting pot with little more than the instincts of "fight or die".

It's positively alien to a human or a pony. Are they the same in your world?

[~~Oh now we're truly getting interesting. If this was as it had been before, Lucifer would give it's honest answer, as itself, to it. But as it stands, it can't yet. Not just yet.~~

Hikaru smiles a little, sadly, and shakes her head.]

I couldn't say. Some of the demons seem to be more, but unless you're an idiot - or very sociable - you don't talk with the demons for an extended period of time.

Angels, even less. I've never seen one, only heard about them. So I can't say!

I try to stay clear.

Edited 2014-08-07 22:39 (UTC)

Ponies are sociable creatures. Some might even call us idiotic for it. You'd be surprised how effective a bit of diplomacy and a refusal to fight or die can be, though.

[~~This hand of cards is getting interesting indeed. But at the same time, knowledge is meant to be spread... even if it hurts.~~

Flare sits back and chuckles.]

Told as a kid? Or did you have to find out the hard way?

I think there's a bit of sociability in every creature. And diplomacy can work even with demons. The Ashura-kai have managed to negotiate with them by providing pills known as Reds.

[Oh this is getting interesting. If s/he wanted to ensure victory, it would be best to stack the deck. To keep it simple and make it so there was nothing to call. Make it feel as if what she was holding was so obvious there was no reason to suspect anything else.

But then...what fun would there be in that. Why not see where the game takes them.]

It's impossible to avoid the demons entirely. Everyone runs into one eventually! Some are friendly. Others....not so much.

[That sidestep was enough to answer her question. At the same time, something else gets her attention.]

"Reds", huh? Sounds like something we could sure as hell use around here right now with our own problems. Having to learn about the situation through mythology and ill-fated attempts at escape is hardly a quick way to learn.

[There's a bit of a pause, then a wry chuckle.]

I'm blabbering on about stuff you probably don't know anything about, though. Trust me... it's not anything a normal filly needs to worry about. Just a bit of a... pet project I spend my free time investigatin'.

Unless you have a demon infestation, I don't think they'd help much! They're the one things demons will eat other than meat. And meat is hard to find in Tokyo.

[She tilts her head a little at that.]

Is it about the Pale Pony? Someone named Lucia told me about it earlier. It sounds...terrifying. But I think everyone should know what they've found, if we're trying to escape this place. It'd be best to let everyone know.

Especially those who wouldn't do so well if they weren't prepared. I'm scared, but...I'd rather know what's happening and see what I can do to help then not know.

Edited 2014-08-07 23:09 (UTC)

[You're throwing her off, filly. "Survival of the fittest" Morning Star wouldn't've thought twice about keeping information to himself...]

So they're basically demon treats. That seems... vaguely demeaning, but hey, whatever works.

[Flare sighs when Hikaru mentions Lucia. Damned girl is trying to help, but really, is blabbing "WE'RE ALL GETTING SUBSUMED BY A DEATH GOD" really the best way to go about it?]

We don't know anything about the Pale Pony, except that we're likely part of some big experiment she's doing, and that she lives in another plane of existence...possibly as an alternate of this very reality.

[She means that how it came out - that the Pale Pony might just be an alternate version of Equestria.]

[It is demeaning. Beyond demeaning to the nature of demons. It was part of why Lucifer had Lilith point the samurai at the horrors of Tayama's facilities that were producing them.

She chooses to say nothing on it. There is no way she could say anything more about the Reds without showing how demeaning she felt they were.

She flutters her wings a little bit nervously at the news.]

That's unfortunate.

Was that the same project you were working on? You'd think there'd have to be more known about it than that.

[~~Lucy wanna cracker? Lucy wanna cracker~? Yeah, even Flare isn't stupid enough to think that's a good idea.~~ The pegasus nods, with a sigh.]

We can't safely cross the boundaries to witness this creature, even those of us that can at all, and our methods of communicating with others here is... limited and biased at best. I've had to work off of millennium-old mythology and pattern-recognition to figure out for a fact what we could've already guessed - that folks with special powers are higher-priority targets and that there's no real rhyme or reason to when ponies arrive.

And no real way to talk with it?

As you yourself said: diplomacy can work. There should be some way to communicate with it. Maybe that's what we should try and find most of all.

I've been looking. The best bet there is...

[There's a low, drawn out sigh, and Flare drags a hoof through her mane.]

One of the Pinkie Pies here - you'll meet her if you haven't yet - is working on trying to reach out. Short of when one of her agents shows up, though, we have no contact whatsoever. Until someone crossed over, we didn't even know for sure that the Pale Pony even existed.

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