Title: log miniquest 3, MLP-FC 'Never Alone' Author: Curiosity Pastebin link: http://pastebin.com/6jTN9yUR First Edit: Sunday 23rd of November 2014 08:13:53 AM CDT Last Edit: Sunday 23rd of November 2014 08:13:53 AM CDT Never Alone. Part 1   [21:06:49] A gust of wind makes the door of Swivel's hut whine and shake as if it were being rammed by an invisible force. From inside, the stallion observes this with concern, and hears the roar of Winter coming from the snowy barrens of the North. Living so close (After all this is the North region) to a ridge is dangerous during this season, sometimes not only because of the weather...   [21:08:56] Sling_Swivel pauses from his cooking to check the locks and take a peek out the window, back towards town. Titus and Arrow were making the last delivery of Orange Burst's firewood order and hadn't returned yet, "Damn, that's nasty... hope they get back alright," he mutters to himself.   [21:09:30] Time and time again the wind blows against the seemingly frail house, menacing to take it away with stallion and all his scarce things with it. The noise becomes so unnaturally loud for a while that is hard to say what's going on. It's as if a hurricane were taking place just behind the door, a cold pandemonium waiting to unleash inside the comfy place. Then it goes down, suddenly,leaving a silence similar to the one in a graveyard, almost solemn and ominous.   [21:11:45] *CRACK!* *THUMP* A noise interrupts, briefly, the peace brought by the end of the strange blizzard. The sound of branches snapping drags the attention of Swivel back to outside the house once more. Facing uncertainty, he's left to decide wether or not to leave safety...   [21:13:01] "What the fuck's goin on?" he mumbles, straying way from his pot of stew on the stove to check over the home once more. He takes a moment to peek back out towards town when the wind suddenly... stops... "Er..." he looks around the living room for a moment, then jumps at the sound of something moving outside...   [21:16:15] Sling_Swivel stands very, very still, listening for a time. Ears shifting this way and that, trying to track the sound. Maybe all of that stuff Able had tried to scare him and Titus with the night before... was true.   [21:17:37] Through the window that faces West, Swivel can spot a few mounds covered in white that precede the frozen shores of the river. Only a few trees are scattered here and there, and without their foliage they help the snowy landscape to look even more desolate than the usual. *SNAP* A burst of timber and sparks kills the silence again when the stallion gets up. From outside comes nothing, not even the wind can be heard, at least for now...   [21:19:24] Sling_Swivel swallows hard, "Fuuuuck," he mutters, before quickly darting across the room to fetch his only real weapon - a dagger - hung up in its cheap leather holster near the mantel.   [21:22:45] The flames on the fireplace (Or stove, idk what you have) seems to go along with the mute ambiance now, not snapping again and even diminishing when Swivel begins to move. Then it reaches his ears; something drags on the snow... or is it being dragged? He can't tell for now, but it's happening close to the house, so close indeed that he can hear the heavy breathing of whatever is trying to scare him. A noise persistent, eerie, even cliche for such a moment, and it comes from the other side of the front door... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ofm6PARSVM   [21:25:52] Sling_Swivel dagger in hoof, he backs away from the door slowly... "Er... hello?" he asks, meekly.   [21:29:25] The thing beyond the door doesn't reply vocally, it just makes a grunt or similar and continues breathing loudly, like through giant nostrils from which wind enters and leaves hurriedly. *TACK* *THUMP* Wind blows against the door again, or perhaps is the creature outside. All Swivel's knows is that it happens with the same strength as during the blizzard, only that more focused, and to the pony's bad luck, on his front door. The next blow is so strong that it looks like if he doesn't do something about it, it'll strike down the whole entrance soon   [21:33:53] Sling_Swivel looks at the door in terror, "H-hey! Th-this is a Private Domicile! I-I will not be..." he stops abruptly as the thing strikes the door with incredible and damaging force. He freezes for a moment, then takes the dagger in his teeth and darts across the small room, griping the couch with his forehooves and yanking it away from the wall, before shoving it with all his might up against the front door in an attempt to barricade it!   [21:36:16] Titus [~Noah@174-17-70-120.phnx.qwest.net] ha entrado a #FourCannon-EastWoods [21:36:31] (Hey, Cury.) [21:36:36] (Can I toss Arrow into this?)   [21:37:06] The quick thinking of Swivel saves his entrance door, helping it endure the terrible strikes it is taking from the mysterious force outside. The wooden house creaks and whines from all this action in a cacophony that terrifies the worried and lone defendant of the place. [21:37:20] [Hey ho Titus, what do you mean by Arrow? Like green arrow?] [21:37:29] [He'd probably do well in Equestria, you know] [21:37:30] (As in Arrow. The dog.) [21:37:55] [Oh, I didn't know you have a dog. PM me specifics and sure you go with him!] [21:38:11] [Arrow was the one who saved Sling from the BigAss Spider!] [21:38:42] [She looks coole :3] [21:38:53] [Arrow is Best Dog.]   [21:43:14] The relentless attack persists, gaining strength at feeling Swivel's resistance. Then it happens again, it fades away in a sudden change of ambiance. Observing the now deadly quiet room, Swivel can see how a few things fell from their places due to the impacts. Outside there's no noise to hear or sight to behold beyond snowy fields and dead woods. Everything looks so still, so pictured even, that is as if living the eye of a storm, where everything has stopped in time... Maybe is safe to go out now?   [21:49:15] Sling_Swivel remains braced against the couch, still holding it in place with all of his strength, the dagger held tightly between his gritted teeth, eyes squinched shut in terror and concentration... He remains still even after the last blow is struck, waiting... waiting.   [21:49:21] Sling_Swivel finally eases off of the end of the couch, opening his eyes again as the unearthly silence persists... His ears swivel, this way and that, listening... for anything. Eventually, he musters the courage to move around the couch and closer to the door, ears perked, uncertain if the thing is still outside or if it is just trying to fake him out.   [21:52:39] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt7KeshGMpI Suspense grows at unnerving rate by every silent second Swivel spends with his ear pressed against the door. The wooden surface doesn't reverberate a thing: Outside is dead silent. The house creaks again, in the normal way a wooden hut does after having been struck so ferociously, but somehow, Swivel knows he's not alone. He feels it, pressing against his chest, oppressing his mind, the presence of something alien to him and maybe to this wacky world he's fallen into. The fireplace snaps a few more sparks. Surrounded by unfamiliar normalcy, Swivel is again left to his own in a mute existence.   [21:57:39] "WhoooAah! Leave me alone!" He shouts in fear, dagger clattering from his teeth. He jerks away from the door, shaking his head wildly, spewing a stream of high-pitched profanity, trying to force away the "presence."   [22:01:36] A whistly breeze resounds, as in a reply, and stays for a good while before more natural background noises return gradually. Looks like having yelled at the presence did a good job, as Swivel feels a great weight abandoning his spirit. Slowly, snow falls down outside, broadening the layers of white that cover everything. Now more than ever, the house feels like a warm and comfy fortress against the dangers of Winter.   [22:05:40] Sling_Swivel feels the “presenceâ€? lift and gradually calms down, though he still remains more than a little on edge... He stands silently for a time in the middle of the room, panting, listening and looking slowly about as everything seems to return to normal... He quickly realizes that he is unarmed and darts across the room to recover his dagger.   [22:06:15] It happens softly, noiselessly. The flames keeping the place hot and lightened doesn't make it for long on the newfound peace. This quickly drags cold into the house, and for some reason the windows are covered now in a thin layer of frost, at least from the outisde, in pretty and complex patterns.   [22:10:08] Sling_Swivel rearms himself and moves back into the center of the room as... the temperature begins to drop gradually, but steadily... the windows frosting up strangely... “Oh my God...â€? he mutters, in exasperation at the sight. It wasn't over.   [22:10:14] Sling_Swivel quickly grabs and dons his Moon-made cloak and rolls another log onto the fire, trying to intensify it's warmth.   [22:15:06] Swivel notices how the fire has gone down almost completely, and shoving logs to it will do nothing more than suffocate it: He'll have to turn it on again.This becomes vital when cold creeps forward and into the house. Now Sling can see his breath in quick and small steam clouds. Without the fire, the room is suddenly darker. There's no Sun to help soften this, and is already pretty late. Swivel is soon shrouded by shadows, in a place that seems to shrink around him when wind, yet again, makes it whine and creak (At least this time softly). The peace lasts enough to let him hear a mutter before the heavy and ominous breathing from before returns to the exterior ambience, weakly muffled by the wooden walls. "...--nely" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA8-9qS8fHc   [22:21:20] Sling_Swivel watches the fire's light dwindle "Shert..." he hisses, through the dagger's grip, as the log rolls into cooling coals. He tries blowing on the coals for a moment, trying to get the fire to start back up... but abruptly stops as the breathing from before returns.. [22:21:28] “Gert Lerst!â€? he snaps and leaps to the couch again, to brace it against the door should the thing try to batter its way in again.   [22:22:41] Arrow walks into the living room, confused as to why Sling is swinging a dagger around and why everything is cold.   [22:25:45] Something drags around the house again, in circles around it. In fact, this time Sling can see the blurred sillouhete of the creature, strangely amorphous, through the frozen windows whenever it happens to creep near them. The breathing persists, and the dog that was awaken by it and the other weird events feels menace coming from everywhere. There is no ramming against the door, only the presence still lurking around, waiting, or maybe searching for another entrance... [You may both roll perception (Aural) now]   [22:28:20] Sling_Swivel's eyes widen at the sight of Best Dog, "Erroo!" he says, still braced against the couch. He quickly takes the dagger from his mouth, "Something's outside! Trying to get in!" he explains, before going silent to listen as the thing seems to move around the house... He catches a glimpse of it moving, through the frosted window and jerks a bit, startled...   [22:28:33] !roll 1d20+1 [22:28:33] Sling_Swivel rolled 1d20: 7   [22:28:40] [Bah.] [22:29:13] [Also, stupid space... And, er, I really need to get going soon...]   [22:30:51] Sling hears only the breathing fading away on the outside.... moving away? He thinks he heard a voice before the noises abandoned towards the woods, but he can't make what the voice said. A big silence follows this, only broken at parts by the breathing of both Arrow and Swivel...   [22:31:04] [It's alright, we are done here for now >:3] [22:31:53] [Gotcha, hope I didn't cut anything too short. Haven't seen muh family since last Decembre] [22:32:17] [Hahaha, not at all, and have fun with your family. I'll go see mine soon too!] [22:33:38] [Cue credits song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5YhlMNM6Nk ]   [22:34:00] Sling_Swivel stands still for a long while, staring at Arrow, still listening... The breathing fades away and Sling soon moves over to his favorite dog, hugging her for a moment. He can't be certain if it's really over... but getting the fire going again is the real priority and he sets to it.