Author's Note

Just a heads up, I have had the worst luck trying to find the appropriate attire for each of the characters, and an even worst luck describing them. So I added an excessive amount of links to the descriptions of each of them and please note that the images are not 100% what I had in mind (take them as just a general idea of how they would look like and take each of them with a grain of salt).
I also didn't add any images into the page itself due to the possibility of copyright infringement so, good luck clicking the links to the images themselves.

Chapter 2: Into the Mist Part 2

A man in a red shirt and sunglasses stares blankly into the open. He lifts a book with telekinesis from a shelf behind him in his strange room and opens it in front of him.
So, you have returned. I take it you wish to know what happened when they left Ponyville? Or Perhaps you were just curious to know who the two strangers were? Or perhaps both? Or perhaps there is something else you are looking forward to? No matter, their journey has only begun. So let us no longer delay and continue where we left off.

Somewhere within the mists
The next morning

My head, what happened? What is that warm, wet feeling?

Fluttershy opened her eyes to see Harry the Bear licking her face and Angel Bunny shaking her awake. They both stopped and smiled with relief when she straightened herself up. "Angel Bunny. Harry. It's so good to see you okay." She raised her arms to rub the sides of their heads, comforting them.

Roll for Perception
20
She notices where her forehooves should have been are replaced with coat-less, skinny arms with small claw-like indexes.

Roll for Wisdom Saving throw
10
Fluttershy gives out a squeak as she attempted to stand up, only hit her head at a roof of a tree hollow. "Ow, my head!" as she reached for her injury, she felt her ears being pointier than usual. Then she noticed that the shape of her head was all wrong; her muzzle was gone and replaced with a flatter nose and small mouth, the rest of her face was flat and smooth without fur, her eyes were sharper as well as her sight, the ears she previously felt were pointier and longer than before.

Roll for Wisdom Saving throw with disadvantage
7
Full of panic now, Fluttershy scurried backward, hitting the wall of the tree hollow. She can't feel he wings. She reaches her back with her arms; she has no wings. She felt no mane roots on her back. There was nothing but smooth, soft skin on her exposed back. She also noticed she was wearing a peculiar set of clothes; *A leaf-woven fabric held together by leather-like vines around her chest. A short green skirt with a long leaf-woven loincloth hung in front and bonded together by cords of rope. Sitting on her head was a wreath of willows. She was barefooted but swirls of willow vines stretched from her knees to her feet like sandals. And finally a long brown cape from shoulders down to her ankles with patterns of Butterflies all over it. (*Not 100% in likeness but the closest I could compare to how I would imagine)

Fluttershy was about to scream when both Angel and Harry covered her mouth and gestured outside the tree hollow. She saw beyond the hollow was the endless fog she and her companions trekked through, and within a distance a figure was seen through the haze. It shared the same body shape as she is currently in; it stood on two legs and was taller than she was in her pony form. She turned to both Angel and Harry and saw that they were afraid of this being. Fluttershy gazed back to the figure and noticed it looked as though it was searching for something... or perhaps, someone.

For a while, the figure stood there until produced an eerie whistle. A Dark horse, much larger than Princess Celestia appeared and approached the figure, who in turn mounted on the steed and rode away from sight. Fluttershy released a breath which she didn't know she held and heard Angel and Harry did the same.

"Was that what you were hiding me from?"

Both of the animals nodded.

"Okay then, I'll be sure to avoid anything that looks like that." Fluttershy scrambled inside the tree hollow and stuck her head out to look outside.

Roll for Perception
17
She noticed another figure just a distance away from her hiding place. It was lying down on a patch of grass, covered in white fabric. It stirred for a bit before it sat upright.

"This just DREADFUL! How could such a thing have happen?" the figure's feminine voice cried out.

That voice! C-could it be? Fluttershy climbed out of the hollow and leaned on a branch. She steadied herself and slowly stood on her two legs. Well, that was easy. As Fluttershy slowly walked towards the figure she found that her footing was rather light, almost as those the ground beneath her was made of clouds. As she came closer she began to notice a few things about the creature; she was tall and slender with an almost porcelain skin, *a velvet purple hair on her head and long pointed ears like herself. Her head veiled with a white hood that draped down to her ankles; a golden plate covering her torso embroiled with a trio of blue diamonds. Straps of leather coiled around her arms, waist; holding the loose fabric onto her body in a shapely fit. The creature was clad in an emblem colors of white, blue and a touch of gold. "How can one walk on all fours without staining this beautiful fabric?!" (*Just replace the hair and ears and voila.)

Fluttershy knew only one creature in any world who would fit this figure before her, "R-Rarity... Is that you?"

The hooded one's eyes widened as she looked into Fluttershy's eyes, "W-who are you!?" She fell on her back at the sight of her and backed away, "What do you want with me? I have nothing but the clothes on me and I cannot part from them without feeling cold!"

"Rarity, it's me! It's Fluttershy!" She knelt down match their eye level and extended her arm as though she was comforting a scared animal.

"I-is it... I-is it really you?" Rarity's eyes started to well as she leaned forward and took down her hood.

Fluttershy in turn started to sniffle, "Yes... Yes it is."

Rarity leapt to embrace her friend and sobbed, "I WAS SO SCARED! ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED! I was with this traveling caravan and they just started to change and then I noticed I was changing too and I was so frightened that I panicked and jumped out of the wagon then I blacked out and woke up all alone with no pony around to..."

"There, there," Fluttershy brushed her head with her paws/claws/whatever they are, "It's okay now. Let it all out."

After a few hiccups and sobbing, Rarity wiped her eyes, took a good look at her friend's new form and exclaimed, "Fluttershy I have got to say, you look absolutely beautiful!"

Fluttershy blushed with embarrassment from the compliment, "Oh thank you. You look pretty yourself."

"I KNOW, RIGHT? I LOOK ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!" Rarity pulled out a mirror from her bag and gaze at her reflection, "I mean, I know I looked pretty as a pony. But this! I feel as though I could rival the Princesses with this look!"

Just then, Angel and Harry walked right behind them, prompting Rarity to squeal a little and for Fluttershy to converse with them. After listening to all the growls and squeaks Fluttershy's face lit up and asked, "Are you sure?" The two animals nodded.

"What is it, darling?"

"They just told me that Twilight and the others are near!"

"A-are you serious?" Rarity's face lit with a wide smile.

Fluttershy hummed a nod.

"Well, let us waste no time!" Rarity stood on all fours only to be held up by Fluttershy as she raised her up standing on two feet.

"These bodies are bipedal."

A nervous laugh came out of Rarity, "Well that makes sense."

In another part of the fog
Meanwhile

"Well, this is different."

"I'll say! Check out these guns!"

"Oooooh. You look cool Spike! Like Super-duper cool!"

"CAN ANYPONY EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT JUST HAPPENED TO OUR BODIES?"

"Yeah, like why are Pinkie and 'Ah standin' no higher than the lower half of a door and you three are twice that size?

The last voice came from the new form of Applejack. She wore an orange bodice underneath a studded leather armor covering her torso; leather arm guards went from her elbows to the palms of her hands. Studded brown pants covered by an orange-brown fur-like fabric with a repeating pattern of a trio of apples was held together by a large belt on the waist. Her skin was a white with a shade of tan; her face held a beautiful, stoic expression with small freckles around her cheeks. She had a golden blond hair; braided into two pigtails to each side of her head. Completing the ensemble was a large hammer strapped behind her back by a buckle across her chest and *a brown Stetson atop her head. *(Just pretend there's a hat there)

"It's not so bad, Applejack," the cheery voice of Pinkie Pie was heard from the smallest creature in the room wearing a wide grin. Her attire was gypsy like; a blouse with puffy shoulders and blue vertical stripes bellow the chest to the waist. Beneath that was a sleeveless, thin laced tunic all the way from her neck to her waist. A white frilly dress skirt; covered by a pinkish-purple cloth with small balloon shaped tassels on the edges, tied over with a bow. She wore blue knee-high boots tied off with pink ribbons at the end. Her ears were pointed, her skin was a light pink and her large, thick curly hair was a darker shade of pink tied with a violet star-patterned bandanna. She also held a tambourine with an icon of three balloons in the middle. "You look pretty cool with that get up! In fact, everyone looks amazing with our awesome new bodies! I mean, I like my setup; yours is tough reliable; Rainbow Dash looks totally awesome; Spike is even more totally awesome; Twilight is..... well Twilight."

Just as Pinkie mentioned, Rainbow Dash had a simple getup but by no means unimpressive;*She was tall, slender and a bit of a light tanned skin. Her hair was extraordinary; It was of the colours of the rainbow that flowed and glittered (a likeness to Princess Celestia's mane) and tied in a ponytail with a hairpiece. She wore a navy-blue shirt underneath a bright blue tunic that went from her shoulders to her knees. She wore brown leather pants and unlaced blue boots with wings attached to them. She also has leather shoulder-guards, golden arm guards and a leather belt by the waist held by a buckle a symbol of a rainbow coloured lightning bolt under a cloud. *(Please ignore the stats, class and weapons/shield)

Spike could not have been anymore different yet similar than how he was in Equestria; For one, he was much larger in his new form (almost as tall as Rainbow Dash) and yet unlike the rest of the ponies Spike retained his dragon-like qualities. For another, instead of his purple scales his new form had majestic golden scales. He was covered in chain-mail and plated armor *with a tunic covering over and it emblazed the emblem of Equestria's Sun, Moon and the two sisters. Also with him, he held a shield with an emblem of a purple six-pointed star with a green flame as background and a flail holstered on his belt. (*Just replace the colours and symbols)

Twilight on the other hand was by far, the most unimpressive and unsurprising in comparison to the rest of the group (considering the other world she was in); While still similar to how she looked in Canterlot High *(long straight purple hair with bangs), she stood taller than Rainbow Dash, her skin was brown and her ears were pointed and long. **She wore a purple robe with white lines on it's edges over her tunic, which covers most of her body. Fastening the robe was a corded belt. She wore deep blue pants and grey boots. She wore a hooded cloak patterned with stars and a large six-pointed purple one on the center. (*Just replace the head with Twilight from EQG and make her skin brown and give her elf ears) (**Just picture it purple)

"Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, calm down." Twilight raises her hands to take control of the situation, "Do you remember when Spike and I went through the mirrored portal?"

"You mean the world Sunset Shimmer lives in?"

"Yes Rainbow," affirmed Twilight, "that one. What happened to us last night is a similar effect to when Spike and I went through the portal. If my theory is correct, this fog acts as some sort of conduit to travelling into another world. And as we entered, our bodies changed to comply to the rules of this reality."

"Ooooh. So it's like putting on a party hat when you enter a "Party Hat party" and then you switch it out with a mustache when you enter a "Wear a Mustache party"?

Twilight was about criticize that comparison before she thought about it, "I suppose it's like that."

"Well that's nice and all, Twilight," Rainbow Dash scowled at her back as she struggled to stand, "but I would much prefer to fly or even walk on all fours rather than this wingless, two-legged body."

"Well, at least you aren't shorter than a barrel of Cider!" Applejack snorted.

"Oh, you'll get used to it," a familiar voice called out to them, "I know I am."

All turned to see two strangers on two legs (accompanied by a Bear and rabbit behind them) approach the party. Everyone was speechless until they began to process the likeness of the strangers to someponies they knew.

Roll for Perception
12(RD), 11(AJ), 8(TS), 15(PP), 18(S)
Spike was the first to recognize them, "Fluttershy? R-Rarity?"

Rarity gasped at the sight of them, "Spikie-wykie, is that you? You look absolutely DASHING!"

At that the Dragon smiled with a blush, "You look good too, Rarity. Beautiful in fact." It was then the rest of the party notices that while Spike kept his usual voice from Equestria in his new form, there was a peculiar vibration in his voice; like a soft, golden echo that was barely audible.

A small blush with a sincere smile came from Rarity, "Why thank Spike." She then turned to the rest of them and began critiquing each of their appearances, "And look at you all! Applejack; reliably rough, but elegant! Rainbow Dash; simple but bold, I love it! Pink Pie; you look positively ADORABLE! Twilight; I suppose as always you prefer function over style but it does fit you to a tee."

Twilight moved in to give the fashionista a hug, "It's good to see you are taking this all too well. But how did you get here?"

All began to recount what has transpired over the past hours leading to where they are now.

"We were called by the map?" Fluttershy looked genuinely surprised, "but I didn't see my Cutie-mark glow."

"Neither did any of us, Sugarcube," said Applejack who was beginning to get used to walking on two legs, "'Ah'm more curious about those Vistani folk Rarity was sayin'."

"I'm more suspicious about the letter Fluttershy got." Rainbow Dash jumped in, "Doesn't it seem like an odd coincidence that the map called us here while Rarity and Flutters came here by different means which somehow brought us here to this fog at the same time?"

"You mean like something wanted us all to be here?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Maybe the Tree of Harmony wanted us to fix something here?" Spike suggested.

"But that doesn't answer why our Cutie-marks didn't glow," Twilight stared across the fog covered road the just entered from, "Maybe if we go back to Equestria just to be sure, we could come back here more prepared. Maybe even bring the Elements of Harmony with us?"

"Good idea, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie hopped towards the fog, "That way we could also pick a spare wheel for Trixie's Wagon when we crashed to a tree."
Roll for Constitution Saving Throw
12
As the Party pony(/whatever she is) stepped into the fog, she froze for a moment and rushed back up with terror in her eyes. "T-T-Twilight, t-t-there's-s-s s-something very wrong! I can't feel my Pinkie sense!"

"What do you mean?" There was a troubled concern from Twilight's voice when she heard that.

"You know how my Pinkie sense was all over the place just before we came here?" Pinkie was visibly shaking with fright, "Now, I can't feel any of it at all. And I know I should be feeling it because when I touched the fog, I felt something very wrong in the fog."

This alarmed everyone. Twilight was the first to move as she approached the fog. She casts Detect Magic. I can use magic here, good she thought. A strong and powerful aura emanated from the fog. She then tried to brush away the mist; and as she does, claw-like hands appeared, reaching out to touch her. As she stepped back, the arms vanished as the mist reformed itself.

"Everypony," Twilight's voice quivered with fear, "I think whatever brought us here, did so to trap us here."

"Ya mean, we can't go back!?" There was panic in Applejack's voice.

"Y-you mean, we c-can't go home?" Fluttershy squeaked.

Roll for History
16
"Wait a moment," Rarity recalled, "I remembered that the Vistani mentioned about the fog. "Now, we alone have the power to leave his domain." was what Stanimir said before I arrived here."

"Does that mean we need the Vistani to get out of here?" Spike asked.

"Perhaps," said Twilight, "Either way, we can't stay here. According to Fluttershy's letter, there should be a town not far from here. We could request some help there and in exchange if the letter is to be believed, we could do some help there too.

"So we're just going to leave the Wagon here?" Pinkie Pie looked pained at the prospect of breaking a Pinky-promise, even with somepony like Trixie.

"You know Pinkie," Rainbow Dash lifted Pinkie Pie, held her by the waist like a child and gave her a reassuring smile, "The sooner we get into Town, the better the chance that Trixie's Wagon will still be here to fix it."

Pinkie gave the most adorable smile when she heard that, taking everyone aback. By Celestia, She is too precious in this form everyone thought.

Pinkie hopped off of Rainbow, "I'll go grab some cupcakes for the journey there," and made her way to the wagon. As she opened a blood-curdling scream came out of her, prompting everyone to rush to her.

She sobbed in the most adorably comical way as everyone came to see what she was crying about, "My cupcakes... They... They... THEY GOT TURNED INTO HARD, STALE BREAD!"

Deeper into the fog
An hour later

Pinkie Pie was still sobbing as she sat on top of Harry the Bear as the party trekked forward across the misty forest. Fluttershy walked along side Pinkie as she tried to comfort her predicament while Spike took a bite out of the bread to taste it. "You know, it's actually not that bad. (Crunch) Sure it feels like eating quartz but it tastes just fine."

This caused for tiny, pink gypsy to bawl and Rainbow Dash to scowl at the Dragon, "Not helping, Spike."

Fluttershy patted Pinkie Pie's fluffy curls with a "There, there." from her soft voice. Pinkie sniffed and wiped her tears, "It's okay Dashie, (sniff) Spike was trying to make me feel better. At least he (sniff) finds it edible."

Everyone else, Roll for Perception
Natural 20(AJ), 14(R), 14,(TS)
Meanwhile, Applejack noticed something on the horizon, "Girls, Spike. Y'all have a look at this!"

"My word," gasped Rarity, "It's huge!"

Twilight stared with awe at the sight, "Incredible."

The rest stopped to look at the view in before them. Ahead, jutting from the impenetrable woods on both sides of the road, are high stone buttresses looming gray in the fog. Huge iron gates hang on the stonework. Dew clings with cold tenacity to the rusted bars. Two headless statues of armed guardians flank the gate, their heads now lying among the weeds at their feet. They greeted the party only with silence. As they approached, the gates swing open, screeching as the hinges move

"Alright, that is mighty impressive," whistled Applejack.

Everyone, Roll for Perception
13(TS), 19(R), 8(PP), 6(FS), 6(RD), 21(AJ), 2(S)
Aware that they were noticed, two figures popped out of the bushes along the gates. They wore long tunics and a Green and Gold coats over them. They had blue badges embroiled with gold and held a symbol of a crescent moon and its reflection over a lake. It was also noted that they are completely drenched, as though they were fished out of a lake.
One of the figures was a woman with a white hood along with her uniform. She had black hair and red eyes and a pale complexion. She held out two hand crossbows pointed at the party and along her belt were strange contraptions connected to several Crossbow bolts. Her partner was of a smaller stature who was waist high. She looked like an overgrown raven; wearing a green hood along with his uniform and held out two shortswords and has a small rapier holstered on his belt.

"You have at the count of ten to tell me who you are and where are we before we have you restrained!" Ordered the woman.

"Woah, easy there partner!" called Applejack, "We here are just as confused as you are."

"Confused as you are." the bird thing repeated exactly what Applejack said with her perfectly imitated voice.

"What in Equestria?"

"I'll do the questions here!," barked the pair's leader, "Do you expect me to believe that a party comprised of a dwarf, a halfling, an aasimar, three elves and a dragonborn would not know where they are when they are travelling across a fog filled woods?"

Pinkie raised her hand, "Um, you do realize that you just answered your own question?"

"Answered, question." imitated the bird.

"Pest, Shut up!" barked the woman (sounding somewhat flustered).

Twilight took a step forward, "Do you know what our forms are? You see, we weren't exactly the way we are now before we came to this land."

Now completely confused, the strange woman lowered one crossbow but pointed another at Twilight, "What in the Nine Hells are you talking about?"

Roll for Persuasion
12
"We are from another world, and judging from your expression; you and your companion are probably in the same predicament as we are. You see, in our world we are not bipedal creatures."

"Is that a fact?" she tightened her grip on her crossbow, "Where are you from then?"

"We are from Equestria."

Natural 1 Insight
The woman laughed menacingly before she gave an incredulous look at Twilight and scoffed, "EQUESTRIA? Do I look like an idiot to you? Equestria! That's a fairy tale from a thousand years ago! It's not even based off of real legends. A Children's story about Unicorns, Pegasi and other manner of magical creatures living in harmony?! You must be either awfully desperate or incredibly stupid if you are resorting to use a piece of fiction as a cover story!"

"Hold up! Did you just call us fiction?" Rainbow Dash's expression was between being insulted and excited to know the possibility of being a story character like Daring Do.

"Now where do ya go off, callin' us fiction?" Applejack pointed her hammer at the stranger, "Equestria is real and we came from it! That's the honest truth!"

"Truth? I've known too many who claimed to speak the truth. They all usually end up on the rope at the gallows." This statement chilled the party to the core. "If you do speak the truth, then prove it!"

It just occurred to Twilight; whatever proof they could provide would be useless due to the rules of this world. The world she is from recognizes their current forms and would therefore be familiar with the concept of magic. If that be case, whatever spellcraft she could unleash would simply be brushed off as a spell she has seen before. Science would be out of the picture due to the level of sophistication she would be well familiar with (her crossbow holster being an example). Foods would can't be evidence due to being transformed. Animals like Angel and Harry? No, she didn't looked surprised to see them. What else is there? Clothes? But our clothes already look similar to hers.

It was then Twilight noticed the intricate detail on her badge. The emblem of her nation. She pointed to her number one assistant. "He has the proof."

"What?" Everyone (yes, including the bird) reacted the same as Twilight declared their evidence.

"If you're telling me that this Dragonborn is your proof then you're going to have to do better than..."

"I didn't say he is the proof," Twilight interjected, "I said he has the proof. More importantly, he's wearing the proof."

"Um Twilight," Spike gave his superior an unsure look, "are you sure you know what you are doing?"

Twilight smiled at her number one assistant, "Don't worry Spike, I know what I am doing." She then turns to the stranger, "You are some sort of city guard, right?"

"Yes I am," she nodded.

"Then as a city guard, you are provided with only the finest uniforms emblazoned with the symbol of your city or nation by the finest crafters and any poor imitation can easily be identified, correct?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"Then tell me, are you familiar with the emblem of Equestria, even as fiction?"
Roll for Persuasion, with Advantage
24

The woman took a deep look into the emblem of Equestria on Spike's tunic. She recognizes that symbol from the storybook cover. "Pest! Confirm it!" She ordered the Raven creature to which he complied. While studying it, Pest did notice it was a legitimate uniform and emblem. He looked to the woman and nodded.

She couldn't believe it. No army could afford to customize an official guard's emblem, especially in likeness to a symbol from a storybook. She holstered her crossbows to her sides and crossed her arms, "It seems the evidence is on your side, but excuse me if I remained skeptical to your claim. For now, I shall give you the benefit of the doubt."

"I suppose we got ourselves on the wrong foot here," Rarity stepped forward with her familiar smile, "Allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Rarity; Fashionista of Carousel Boutique. This is Applejack; Farmer and manager of Sweet Apple Acres. That is Rainbow Dash; fastest flyer in Equestria, Captain of the weather team in Ponyville and a member of the Wonderbolts. That is Fluttershy; Ponyville's resident animal expert. That is Pinkie Pie; Ponyville's professional Party Planner. This is Spike; Number one assistant to last but truly not the least; Twilight Sparkle; Personal Student of Princess Celestia and Princess of Friendship."

"Why am I not surprised?" the strange woman said as she and her companion shook hands with each accordingly to their introductions. "I suppose we should introduce ourselves. I am Sergeant Maria Rosa Dela Alejandre Alethra Martinez. Maria for short." She added quickly after seeing their reactions to her full name. "This is my partner, Pest. He is a Kenku."

"Pest! Pest!" the birdman squawked in a high pitch noise.

"We are both members of the City Watch of Waterdeep."

"Waterdeep?" Twilight puzzled, "I've never heard of it."

"And you wouldn't have if what you claim is true," Maria gave a scowl, "We are from the world of Faerun. (Achoo!)"

"Oh dear, you're soaked to the bones," Rarity approached the two, "Let's dry you both up, and perhaps you could tell us how you got here. In turn, we'll tell you ours."

"Well, that's the thing," Maria wiped her nose, "Now that I thought about it, I think we died."

Faerun, Waterdeep Dock Ward, The Skewered Dragon Tavern
Last night

Maria Alethra Martinez was sitting at a bar, looking at the invitation from a mysterious stranger and doesn't bother to read it. She has bigger fish to fry. "Pest, did you get all that conversion on table 5?"

Roll for Sleight of Hand
19
Roll for Performance
Natural 20
The young Kenku appeared out of nowhere right next to Maria. He leaned in and whispered into the human's ear with perfect likeness to the conversation from the table in question, "The Xanathar is getting twitchy about his missing goods. We need to find that Goblin and get her to squeal where it is."

Goblin?

Pest continues with a voice from the other person, "Not exactly easy considering that the Inquisitors got her under lock and key. Plus with the Xanathar's men hustling about the street, there's no way we could nosy about. Especially with some new upstart Noble from Neverwinter to start his own hustling business."
"A Warlock from a long dead family should be no concern of ours! We must focus all our efforts to retrieving the missing goods before the Xanathars get it. If they get it back, any leverage we have against them is gone. Do you understand what that entails or not?"
"Crystal clear. They own the city, we lose our jobs."
"You'll lose more than that if you fail. (Sounds of chairs moving) Meet me by the pier in an hour, and do not be late! We'll be expecting new friends from Baldur's Gate very soon."

The group had already left the tavern by the time Pest finished his imitation of the conversation. "So, we already have the goblin in question then. We better tell the High Inquisitor that she's more important than we thought."

Pest just nods.

"You're more silent than usual, what's wrong with you?!"

"You told Pest to be quiet." came the mixed voices from the Kenku's beak to put together a sentence.

Maria sighed, "Oh right, I forgot about that." Of all the creatures I get assigned to be my partner, it's this infuriating Pest of a bird. Granted he's useful for interrogations and recording spoken conversations just by hearing them, but by Lothander he is such a pain when he goes off on his own devices.

"Why hello there, miss." A strange man set beside her, "could I interest you with a drink?"

"No thank you, we are just on our way out." She stood from her chair and gestured Pest to follow.

"Is that so?" the man turn to look at her as she made her way out the door, "May I offer to escort you home? It is awfully late at night, lots of unscrupulous characters out and about, especially as of late."

"No thank you," Maria had a bad feeling about this and flashed a rapier into view, "We will be fine on our own."

"Oh, but I insist, Sergeant for the City Watch."

Oh no.

Gates of Barovia
Present time

"We were gagged, blindfolded and dumped into the docks to drown. Next thing we knew, we woke up here."

"Oh my, that's awful." Fluttershy was seen sitting down, caressing a content Pest on her lap as though he was a cat. The Kenku in turn started cooing like a pigeon and rubbed himself against her hand that was stroking him.

"Pest, get off of her," Maria gave the Kenku a stern look before she turned to the one petting him, "Ms Fluttershy, I would appreciate it if you don't pamper him. He's soft enough as it is!"

Fluttershy stood up, prompting Pest to leap off her lap and gave a whimper of a sad pup. "Don't worry, maybe next time when we get the chance," she assured him with a pat.

"So, you all came from due to this fog, right?" Maria inquired, pointing at the fog behind them.

"Yes, that is correct," Twilight turned on her full explanation mode, "There is a strong magical aura within the fog that acts as a one-way conduit to a connected world. It's also a barrier to keep anyone out. We can enter, but..."

"...We can't go out," the guard interjected.

"Well, not quite," continued Twilight, "Theoretically, we can go through if we have the right spell to allow us to break through the barrier. But even with that, there is no telling which world we could enter without some proper form of navigating across the fog."

"So we're back to square one. Trapped."

"Not necessarily," Rarity added in, "The Vistani are the only ones who can go through the fog and could properly navigate their way around it. If we can reach them..."

"We can get ourselves home!" Rainbow interjected.

"It looks to me like y'all on the same page," Applejack smirked at Maria, "We meet up with the Vistani folk, we can go home."

Pinkie gasped with excitement, "Does that mean.... you'll..."

Maria sighed, "Well, it seems we have little choice on the matter, and it does look like you have a lot of questions about your new bodies if that were true. So I suppose we'll have the honour of accompanying your party."

There was a shared glee among them. Pest let out a squeaky "Yay" from his beak. Pinkie Pie fired a party popper. Smiles and spirits were now high as they passed through the gates.

As they past, the doors slowly shut with a screeching noise without catching the party's attention. Also unbeknownst to them is as they follow the road, the fog creep closer behind them.

Castle of Friendship, Map room
Meanwhile

The Cutie-Map still glowed the marks of the party over the Everfree Forest. Hidden in near the map was a small dark crystal protruding from the side. It shrank into its roots and disappeared; as it does, the symbols of the Party vanishes from the map.

Ponyville, Fluttershy's cottage
Last night

"Oh Fluttershy, I have our dinner party ready!" came the sing-song tune of Discord as he opened his dimension in Fluttershy's living room. "Fluttershy?" the Draconequus noticed she wasn't home as a few nervous animals approached him with a letter.

"Well, that's just perfect," Discord's face soured, "Another last minute cancellation. You know, I really should start addressing this to her and at least have her tell me a week in advance." He snatched the letter from the animals and opened it.

Dear Discord,
I'm sorry for cancelling our dinner with my animals. I really wish I could have informed you a week before, but this was a last minute emergency. Somepony sent me a letter needing my help across another town. If you want, you can help me out and that way we might finish the job before the night is over. I made a copy of the letter for you to read should you want to accompany me to the next town.
Your friend, Fluttershy

Discord sighed, "Welp, that's the Element of Kindness for you. Let's see which town you went...." All jovial features from his expression left as he read the copy of the Burgomaster's letter. In its place was pure horror and fear.

"Oh no."

The man from the strange room closes his book and looks directly in front of him.
I'm afraid that that is the end of our session.