open Bloodlines (S.O.L./Horror Mystery) [reboot]

[SilverHeart 741]

@@Gloomfury,@@Evilshy, @@Midnight Scribbler, @@Scribblegroove, @@FortyTwo42, @, @@FirstPonySpectre, @@Silver Staff, @@Golbez, @@Windbreaker, @, 

 

That was twelve guests, everyone had shown up. Not that he was surprised, two years in a royal prison was a harsh punishment. Wagon Wheel waited until the last mare found a seat to begin speaking.  "Excuse me, I apologize for interrupting but we are about to depart. There are a few things that need to be said. First, we shall be travelling through a very dense forest. So dense that the trees eventually block out the sunlight. I will be stopping the carriage only once and that is for the sole purpose of lighting the carriages lanterns. Please, do not get out of the carriage under any circumstances." The stallion sounded bored or maybe it was just indifference. It was obvious that he had given this speech a few times or possibly practiced it a bit too much. "Despite the...rustic nature of our trail, you shouldn't feel even the slightest bump. This carriage has been enchanted for this journey. Regardless of the weather outside, it will remain at a very comfortable temperature. It will be the better part of the day before we arrive at the resort. As such, this carriage is fully stocked and equipped with a wide variety of refreshments." He pointed a hoof at a small cabinet under one of the seats. "His Highness wants you to know that no other resort in or beyond Equestria has access to Carriages of His Highnesses own design. Please enjoy yourselves." The stallion finished speaking, not waiting for any kind of questions or even a response he closed the door. The only sign that the carriage had begun to move was the passing scenery, ahead of the carriage was a meadow, and beyond that the beginnings of the forest.

[Ihei 711]

Dove Marigold

 

Dove was baffled by how the carriage started. Nopony seemed to be leading it. She didn't believe that the carriage was enchanted. Maybe they just didn't see who was leading the carriage or this was some cheap parlor trick.

 

@@Windbreaker,

 

"Oh! Pardon me. My name is Dove, Dove Marigold. I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance," she smiled. "It's really very kind of Prince Blueblood to allow us to go to a resort with no charges. Though I do wonder why he picked us specifically," she pondered, putting a hoof to her chin. "Was I rambling? My apologies, I'm just very excited to go to this resort." Dove hoped she was making a good impression on this mare. She was admittedly enjoying the scenery, though. She hardly ever gets the chance to see a lush meadow with actual flowers or high snow-capped mountaintops. If she hadn't been here just to steal ponies' stuff, then she would actually enjoy herself for once.

[FortyTwo42 1,287]

Shadowhide

 

Hearing that Ophelia is trained and won't bite helped Shadowhide calm down to normal. 'I'm simply not fond of pets in general,' Shadowhide replied to Belinda's question. 'However, a snake sounds like one of the more preferable pets to me. It's unorthodox, but they won't run around and knock things over like more common pets. My reaction earlier was out of concern for my safety; hearing Ophelia isn't dangerous helps me be at ease with her now.'

 

Despite all this, it's still seems Belinda isn't interested in being friends with her. She clearly wants to end this conversation as soon as possible, so Shadowhide will oblige her now. 'Apologies for my intrusion. Perhaps my reasons for wanting friendship were selfish; I was simply seeking a pony to speak to who wasn't blindly excited about this trip. I'll leave you now.'

 

Shadowhide stood up, but before walking away, she added, 'My friendship offer still stands. Should you change your mind, come see me.' She then walked over to the empty seat next to Aero she was at before, and sat down.

 

---

 

Aero Wind

 

Shadowhide came back and sat down next to Aero. Looks like her conversation with the yellow pony didn't last too long, but Aero was happy Shadowhide was now speaking to others. 'Well done, Shadowhide,' he said. 'So, what's she like?'

 

'Misanthropic,' Shadowhide simply replied.

 

'What, really?' That sure wasn't a word Aero was expecting. He didn't pay much attention to them, but they were definitely talking. Shadowhide's probably just exaggerating. Which is unusual for her, she's usually very direct and tells things 'as is'.

 

'I'm going to talk to her,' Aero said. When he saw the frown that appeared on Shadowhide's face, he continued, 'What's the worst that could happen? Besides, you can be rather unsociable too, and I'm still friends with you. So I have lots of practise dealing with ponies like that!'

 

'Please don't. You're only going to annoy her,' Shadowhide replied, still keeping her frown.

 

'My mind is set, Shadowhide.' With that, Aero got up and walked over to the yellow pony. He heard Shadowhide say something else, but couldn't quite understand it clearly. It sounded like she said 'do not sneak', whatever that means. When he was standing in front of the pony, he held out a hoof for a hoofshake and said 'Hey there! My name's Aero Wind.'

 

(What Shadowhide actually said was 'Beware her snake.')

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

@@SilverHeart,
@,
@,
@@Evilshy,
@@FortyTwo42,
@@Gloomfury,
@@FirstPonySpectre,
@@Scribblegroove,
@@Golbez,
@@Windbreaker,
 

Sunset Glow

 

Sunset glanced at Aero Wind with a small amount of surprise. "Afraid of fi-" She paused, lowering her voice so ShadowHide might not hear her. "afraid of fire? Even.. Little flames on candles? That seems a bit.." Sunset paused, pondering what would make somepony so terrified of flames. "Was she burned badly or something?" The question seemed redundant, considering the mare in the back of the carriage didn't seem to have any visible scarring from what Sunset could tell.

 

Sunset smiled as Scribblegroove seemed to pay more attention upon her mentioning her career. She felt badly for him being so ill, and having to come along on this trip regardless of his health. At least it would be relaxing, there were far worse situations to be found in while sick. "I.." She found herself hesitating on the thought of how she'd learned her trade. A memory of someone in her past, who'd been quite special to her, and hadn't returned to her life since. She felt a small amount of sadness at the thought, but kept it well hidden. "A good friend taught me how to use magic a long time ago.. It turned out enchantments just happened to be my strength, I suppose. I began to learn to imbue things with magic, like incense and candles. They release the spell when you burn them."

Just then, Bittersweet stepped up in between her and Scribblegroove, offering him some sort of remedy. "How thoughtful" She smiled, observing the moment.

 

As this was taking place, yet another mare entered. This one was very bright looking, pretty, intelligent, lightly coloured coat and mane. something about her personality gave Sunset an odd vibe though. It was far too early to pass any kind of real character judgement, so Sunset pushed the thought from her head, realizing she might just be thinking too much about it.

 

Just then, the coach master poked his head into the doorway, announcing their departure in a very monotone and dull voice. The thought of a forest that was too thick to allow sunlight might have given Sunset the chills, if this pony hadn't seemed so bored with the notion. It still seemed eerie, but his absolute lack of enthusiasm was oddly comforting in it's own way. With that, the carriage began to move. The lack of momentum felt strange. Sunset had expected to feel the usual tug of the coach beginning to move, but there was nothing. She had braced herself against the momentum of acceleration, but found herself bracing needlessly against a force that simply did not exist. "How strange.." She thought, and relaxed again, realizing suddenly that she hadn't any need to stop in the first place. This truly was a smooth ride. Were there any potholes or loose stones, they went unnoticed within the carriage. It felt as though they were gliding with sleigh blades on fresh snow at the most turbulent moment.

[Evilshy 5,089]

Belinda

 

As the conversation with Shadow ended, bucking finally, Belinda noticed another pony walking towards her. No rest for the wicked, I guess. A closer look revealed that this particular pony was definitely worth said look; she seemed to have her mouth covered and was writing quickly. When she excitedly held up the notepad, Belinda was somewhat shocked, both by the writing itself and the sheer oddity of the whole thing. She smiled slightly and held Ophelia up.

"You don't talk and you like snakes and a bunch of other cool animals, I guess that makes you better than any pony else here. You can pet Ophelia if you want, but I don't let strangers hold her."

 

Looking over the writing mare's shoulder, Belinda spotted another pony walking towards her after a brief chat with Shadowhide. Great, she's not enough, she has to send her friends. Will this ever end? Belinda was getting a little fed up by now, and decided to not even go for a hint of politeness.

Glaring, she ignored his hoof and spoke sharply. "I guess Shadow didn't bother to tell you anything about me? I'm Belinda, and I don't really want to talk to you. I don't want to be your friend, and I don't want to know anything about you because, frankly, I don't give a flying feather."

Ophelia, sensing Belinda's anger by her tone of voice, began to hiss at Aero.

[Gloomfury 243]

      Belle

 

@@Evilshy,

 

  Belle's eyes let up with happiness when the mare said she could hold her snake. Under her scarf that was covering her mouth, was a really big smile. After the mare told off one of the other ponies in the carriage, Belle reached into the the mares carrier and slowly picked up the mares snake. When it started to coil around her hoof she began petting it like it was a kitten, smile getting bigger.

 

As she hold the snake thought of her times back home and helping her father handle the snakes and bringing them to zoos to be on exhibit. She would always sit in the back of her fathers cart, playing with the snakes and snapping turtles. Belle slowly started writing another note for the mare with the snake coiled around her righting hoof. Which made her give a muffled giggle along with a shout.

 

When she was done she hold her pad up for the mare to read. 

 

"She's so cute! What's her name? Do you have any other snakes? Do you milk them yourself if you do? My daddy's a reptile wrangler and he milks snakes as well so he could send them out to be made into anti-venom. And cause he was bit so many time his blood became anti-venom itself. For a while he even sold his blood to doctors in places that have a lot of snakes. I got pit a few times, but I got so use to it it doesn't hurt as much.

 

But I'm sure you don't want to hear my life's story.

 

And if you don't mind me asking, what's your name? But if you don't want to you don't have to tell me.

 

I'm Belle."

[FortyTwo42 1,287]

Aero Wind

 

@@Midnight Scribbler,

'No, Shadowhide hasn't burned herself,' Aero replied. He thought about the real reason Shadowhide was scared of fire: her traumatic childhood incident she told him about. But he couldn't just tell these ponies about that. Shadowhide is extremely selective about who she has told, so it would be a huge betrayal of trust to mention it to others. Keeping his voice down to make sure Shadowhide doesn't overhear, he continued, 'Trust me, she has a really good reason for being scared of fire, but it's also an incredibly personal reason, so I can't just say why. Put her in a room with a candle, and she'll probably become incredibly unnerved and try to get out of the room as fast as she can. Anything bigger than a candle... Well, I'm not too sure what she'd do, since I've never seen her with a large fire, but it definitely won't be a good thing.'

 

@@Evilshy,

Aero just stood there in shock, frozen in position with his hoof still in the air. Shadowhide actually wasn't exaggerating at all. She really was misanthropic. And he had the misfortune of being the one pony to make her snap. He probably would've been standing there in shock much longer if it wasn't for the hissing he heard shortly afterward... When he found himself face to face with a hissing, angry looking snake, it was one of the most horrifying things he's seen.

 

'Sna- Sna- Snaaaaaaaake!' he cried out as he immediately turned and ran in the other direction, quickly running face-first into the wall on the other side of the carriage.

[EcstaticWind 572]

Poppy Seed

@,

 

"Nah. You weren't rambling. I know ponies who ramble, and they go on for hours. Well, 'til I throw 'em out for being plastered, that is. Still, nice to meet ya, Dove. Mind if I ask what you do for a living?" Poppy asked. She figured that she may as well get to know at least one of them on the way, though she didn't like the sounds from the back...and the pony running and screaming 'til he smacked into the wall just made her roll her eyes.

 

"Apparently there's a snake on board." Poppy said dryly after seeing the pony smack into the wall.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Emerald Gaze.

 

@Scribblegroove

 

"Well, it varies dear. True, I am often in a position to be granted certain luxuries. It's not all glamour however - at the end of the day I am a humble servant to our rulers and our land - which can mean on occasion that I must suffer the... distaste, of those who do not appreciate it. She shrugged slightly. "I don't mean to complain however: such occurrences are few and far between. Strangely, would you believe that those who hold animosity are often the most accomodating? It's true."

 

The words rang in her own mind - she flicked an ear and blinked. Nothing - it was nothing.

 

@Midnight Scribbler

 

"Indeed? They sound exquisite... and most interesting for one in my situation." Emerald tittered slightly to herself, shaking her head. "Though, perhaps we can discuss such things in a quieter setting at some point after we arrive?"

 

Her intrest was genuine and twofold: if Sunset could bind spells to candles, they might prove useful in solving a couple of problens that she often suffered with... not to mention possibly quite enjoyable. On a less immediate note however, the mare desired a better knowledge of Sunset herself - which would be far easier to judge without simply asking.

 

All the while, Emerald was listening. Listening was a gift - discerning information from among the clutter, having the focus to maintain a front with those whom one spoke with without them noticing... and simultaneously analysing the discussions of those around her.

 

One such was - so far as she could tell - the last of the guests. Dove... well mannered enough, but perhaps too much so. There wasn't the ditzy air about her like Cherry had, not the seeming shyness of Sunset - so what was her angle? Regardless, it could wait.

Edited January 8, 2015 by Cinder

[Ihei 711]

@@Windbreaker,

 

Dove Marigold

 

"Oh my, what I do for a living? I'm afraid I don't need to. My parents take care of me and they provide the money I need, because they both work nearly full-time jobs. I would like to have a job, but my parents think that it'd be too stressful for me to handle," Dove smiled. Silently in her head, she thought, "Because I couldn't find one, and I don't have parents." She asked brightly, "If you don't mind me asking, what about you? It's really interesting to hear about other ponies' jobs."

 

Everypony else seemed nice enough - she's actually excited herself to visit a resort. Maybe she could enjoy herself for once without worrying about expenses. She might introduce herself to everyone too - it shouldn't be too bad not to steal for a bit.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Kaia

[Scribblegroove 565]

Scribblegroove

 

At last the last of the invited ponies showed up. She seemed nice enough, but she quickly joined conversation in another subgroup within the carriage. As the two mares he was talking with himself continued the subject of enchanted candles, a different mare, who he had seen entering earlier, the one with the blue mane and the pink coat, approached him, announcing that she had a remedy for his sickness.

 

@FirstPonySpectre

"Really!? That would be amazing! One of the doctors in canterlot just told me to wait for it to blow over, but if you can help me get better I'd be incredibly thankful." Scribblegroove couldn't be happier. The headache, the runny nose and the coughing had been tormenting him for about a week now. If she was some kind of alchemist that could help him with one of her wonder brews then he'd finally get to enjoy himself again. Right now this all felt like an inconvenience as he slowly grew sicker.

 

She had put down the vial next to him. Apparently this mare was either quite shy, or was somehow scared of him. Hoping it wasn't the latter, he tried to comfort her with a smile. "So uhh..." He stammered as he picked up the vial of powder. "Do I inhale this, or eat it? I'm not entirely sure how this works." now it was his time to blush. He felt like an idiot not knowing how to use a simple medicine like this, but in all honesty he hadn't really been sick a lot before. It was all a bit of a strange experience to him, being sick like this.

 

@Windbreaker

He noticed another mare, which was Poppy Seed, speaking up to the newcomer. Though he didn't hear exactly what she said to Dove, he did hear her words of encouragement to the timid-looking mare in front of him. Gesturing to her with his hoof, he raised a brow at Bittersweet. "She's absolutely right. You look really tense, but there's no need for that. Why don't you sit down with us here." He said, tapping his hoof on the open space next to him."If you want to that is." He added, hoping not to come off as pushy. He just wanted to help her come out of her shell a little. He couldn't image that she'd enjoy herself if she sat all alone back in the carriage.

 

After he said that, the Coachmaster announced that they were departing. He also explained in a routines fashion how exquisite and refined this carriage was, probably to make them all realize how privileged they were. He rolled with his eyes, but didn't say anything, yet again because of his current situation. Being sick and tired didn't really help you make witty comments.

 

@Midnight Scribbler

Returning to the conversation he was having with Sunset and Emerald, Scribblegroove was just as interested in those candles as Emerald was. "So when you enchant those candles, do you weave the spell into them as you create them, or is it something you do afterwards and can also apply other objects? I wouldn't know. I once enchanted a piece of bread to fall on the unbuttered side..." He snickered, staring out of the window a bit vacantly while his thoughts were drifting off into his memories. He shrugged. "That was about the best I could do under the guide of the 'great' teachers at the SfGU. Not that I really tried..."

 

It was only after saying that when he realized that he might just said something incredibly arrogant. He hoped none of the others would pay it much thought, but otherwise he could explain himself later. "But Emerald is right, maybe we should discuss such things later. I'm terribly interested what possibilities it has to offer." Unliked Emerald, Scribblegroove had a marketing plan in mind that might just bring him the fake that he had been looking for these past few years.

Edited January 8, 2015 by Scribblegroove

[Mickey Taker 347]

Cherry Bomb

 

@@Scribblegroove, @@Midnight Scribbler

Whilst the rest of the guests preoccupied themselves with one another, Cherry opted to take a back seat leaning half-way in through the carriage window and simply observe them from a distance, not that she wasn't keen on meeting them all, far from it, she knew she had the whole duration of the stay at the resort to meet each one personally, so she could afford to be patient.

 

The red mare found her collection of new potential friends most interesting, a wide variety of ponies from different statures and yet unique in their own different way, the noble,  the polite, the not so polite, the shy, the...erm...quirky and the care free, it was all there in one neat little package.

 

Still, as the coach master had explained that the journey would take some time, it wouldn't have hurt to get started, the only question was whom?

As the coach began to move Cherry instinctively climbed inside the coach, opting to climb in through the window between Scribblegroove and Sunset rather than using the door.

 

Cherry noticed as she climbed in there were very few seats left to pick from, at least this would help pick which pony Cherry would meet with first.

Glancing around the red pegasi did notice two earth pony mares sitting opposite each other roughly in the center, both were rather more quieter than the rest of the guests, maybe they would make a  good start?

@, @@Windbreaker

Sitting down next to Dove Marigold, Cherry beamed at the white mare before doing the same in Poppy's direction , "Hi there! My name's Cherry, what're yours?"

As she sat there, the small dribble of nasal mucus that was "generously" given by the sick colt, still clung within Cherry's mane within view if,that is if somepony actually wanted to look at it, but nonetheless, The red mare seemed completely oblivious to it.

[EcstaticWind 572]

Poppy Seed

@, @@Golbez,

 

"I'm a bartender from Manehatten, but I used to be a farm pony when I was a little filly." Poppy said as Cherry appeared. Poppy was a bit surprised by the mare's sudden appearance, something she never took well. "Hello, Cherry. Name's Poppy, and this is...What did you say your name was?"

 

Her tone was a little dry, since she was trying not to point out the 'gift' in Cherry's hair, but she maintained a warm and polite demeanour. But she couldn't help it. She had to point it out. "You've, uh, got a little something in your mane."

Edited January 9, 2015 by Windbreaker

[Ihei 711]

@@Windbreaker, @@Golbez,

 

Dove Marigold

 

"What a delightful surprise! It's very nice to meet you, Cherry." Dove, despite Cherry's rude interruption, smiled and attempted to let her join the conversation. "We were just discussing our careers - I hope that it wouldn't bore you," she said with a kind and sincere-looking smile, looking back at Poppy. "You were a farmer? That's really quite fascinating - did you raise any animals?" she asked, genuinely interested now. For some reason, she's always had a love towards animals and normally hesitates to steal from people who have them.

[FirstPonySpectre 176]

@@Windbreaker,

 

Bittersweet could hear a mare telling her to relax, though she was still too nervous to even make any verbal or physical actions in response. She just stood there perfectly still. Hoping that the stallion would be half as nice to her as he was to the other ponies. Thankfully for the nervous, blue maned pony, he wasn't half as kind. He was just as kind. He spoke with sincere gratitude in his words and each syllable spoke brought more relief to Bittersweet. 

 

@@Scribblegroove,

 

Almost immediately Bittersweet eased up a bit when the pony replied with the rather nice tone he did. The pink mare took a silent deep breath in relief at the events. When the stallion questioned how exactly he was supposed to take the basil powder Bittersweet said in a quiet, yet noticeably calmer voice. "You just chew it." Bitter paused for a moment as she collected her thoughts, not wanting to make a fool out of herself in right in front of the one pony she's talked to thus far. "It's not going to cure your sickness, but it should nullify the symptoms for a few hours. You'll still most likely be contagious." 

 

Bittersweet was about to make her way back to her seat when the stallion she assisted requested she sit down next to him. Though on the outside Bitter remained with a shy look on her face and a feint but growing blush, she smiled on the inside and nodded before taking the seat next to the stallion. "Thank you." Bittersweet thanked both the stallion and the mare who had tried to calm her before.

 

Bittersweet felt much more at ease being around this tan coated stallion. Most likely because he was the first one she's really spoken to directly as of yet. Though the mare who tried to comfort her before seemed quite nice as well. But it still wasn't enough to off-set her otherwise anti-social and / or socially awkward behavior while in larger crowds. 

 

Just when Bitter took her seat the Coachmaster proclaimed that the carriage was going to begin it's ride to the manor. He also explained how luxurious the carriage was and how the ponies wouldn't feel like it was even moving. It was nice and Bittersweet didn't mind the feeling of being treated with a little royal luxury. Though now that she one with the crowd she felt the need to at least introduce herself if anything.

 

Typically she'd of introduced herself to the stallion she had just supplied with medicine but he appeared to have moved on with the conversation. Looking to the mare who had said those calming words earlier it appeared she as well was also back into the conversation. "Well they're both in the conversation..." Bittersweet noted to herself. "I'll just introduce myself to everypony I guess I might as well seeing as I'm going to be spending a lot of time with them, right? It'll be best to get it out of the way now." The shy pink pony convinced herself. 

 

After a brief glance into the crowd the pink unicorn quickly turned away with a bit of anxiety. "Alright, Bittersweet. You've come this far. Just introduce yourself." Bittersweet encouraged herself in her thoughts while she stared blankly off to the side, the blush still remained, though it was not intensifying . "You may be in a crowd now but all these ponies are just like him. Just say 'I'm Bittersweet.' and that's it. Then at least they know who you are, right? You can do it, girl." 

 

The nervous pony took a deep breath. Totally zoning out the other ponies conversations and focusing solely on her thoughts. "On the count of three..." With one final deep breath she began the countdown. 

 

"Three..." She faced towards the crowd.

"Two..." She closed her eyes. 

"One...." Her muscles tightened.

 

"I'm Bittersweet!" The timid pony shouted out in a voice slightly louder than any of the other ponies average speaking voices though by the end of the statement it tailed off to a near whisper. Despite this, however, she managed to keep a very sheepish and timid tone for the one second outburst. As the words echoed out of her lips she turned her head to the side quickly as if the words had left her lips with such force it blew her face away from the crowd. Instantly she was stricken with a paralysis from head to toe, unable to make even the most subtle of twitches. The blush on her face was definitely no longer feint, instead, it spread across almost her entire face and was so vivid it almost seemed like it could be her coat's natural color.

 

Bittersweet knew instantly that she had screwed up the simple task of introducing herself and her eyes refused to open and her muscles stayed tightened. "I bucked that up really bad..." The pony informed herself regretfully as she braced herself for what she expects to be rude remarks from the other ponies.  

Edited January 9, 2015 by FirstPonySpectre

[Evilshy 5,089]

Belinda

 

Belinda was still glaring at Aero when the normally silent pony giggled and shouted. A bit startled, Belinda turned to her quickly with a raised eyebroe, but then began to read her next note. This calmed her down a bit, but when she saw that it was about her father and a bunch of other boring things, she just skimmed the rest. Absolutely right, I don't care about your life story.

 

When she finished reading, she spoke, looking annoyed. "I'm sure you've heard me tell some other pony, but my name is Belinda. And I'd never milk Ophelia, she's way more special than that." She looked slightly insulted at the thought of milking her favorite pet. "And anyway," she continued, "she isn't venomous enough to be dangerous to anything bigger than a dog or cat, so there'd be no need."

 

Without so much as a goodbye, Belinda got up, put Ophelia on her shoulder (who quickly wrapped around her neck like a short, scaly scarf) and headed for the refreshments. Maybe if I'm quick enough, I can get something to snack on before any pony else tries to talk to me.

[Gloomfury 243]

   Belle

 

Belle felt very disappointed that she didn't get to hold Ophelia a little longer. But seeing as she annoyed Belinda it was expected. She hated making others fill annoyed or angry. She started to fill as if she was a nuisance to others. She thought it would be best if she apologize to Belinda for bothering her and then leave her be. But she would do that later when they reached the resort. 

 

Not wanting to just sit there and look pathetic, Belle got up from her seat and went over to one of the windows to look out on the passing scenery. With a rather sad look in her eyes.  She was never good at meeting new ponies. And she would usually end up by herself.  She then took a seat on the floor and kept looking out the window, letting out a muffled shout once in a while. 

 

Then her body froze ((which is one of her 'tics')) and she fell over and made a loud thump when her head it the floor, letting out a muffled 'oof' when she did.

[FortyTwo42 1,287]

Shadowhide

 

As expected, Aero just ticked Belinda off. Even though Shadowhide spoke to him about her, she couldn't help but feel it was entirely Aero's fault. She warned him but he disregarded it and spoke to Belinda anyway. She felt she could understand how Belinda must feel; it really is surprising just how much most ponies want to talk to others. Belinda might have noticed Shadowhide and Aero talking briefly, so hopefully Belinda didn't think she actually sent Aero to talk to her. Shadowhide still hoped she could become friends with this pony, but for now she needs her own space.

 

Of course, Aero just had to shout out 'snake'. Now everyone in the carriage will know there's a snake on board. Hopefully none of them act like Aero did. When he ran straight into the wall, Shadowhide just sighed and shook her head briefly. If everypony starts doing crazy things like that, this might get too much her too.

 

@@Gloomfury,

Just as Shadowhide was about to help Aero, she noticed Belle fall over too. Normally, she wouldn't care about somepony else falling over, but this was different. Shadowhide couldn't think of anything that would've caused her to fall over. The carriage's enchantments made the ride incredibly smooth, so a bump in the road couldn't be the cause. She was sitting, so tripping over something couldn't be the reason. She was clearly awake, so falling over couldn't be due to falling asleep. With so many common options eliminated, Shadowhide feared this is likely to have been some sort of attack. And if that's the case, everypony on the carriage is at risk.

 

She glanced back at Aero. He's lying on the floor after smacking into the wall. He'll be fine, it's extremely obvious why he fell over. He'll probably be overcome with fear for a minute or so, then calm back down. Belle is the most pressing concern, just in case her reason for falling over was because somepony attacked her somehow. Time to put her detective skills to the test and find out exactly why she fell over. Fortunately, she still seems fine, so she'll begin by asking her some questions. Shadowhide walked over to her and asked 'What happened? Are you hurt?'

[Gloomfury 243]

    Belle

 

@@FortyTwo42,

 

Belle was still able to move her eyes and mouth bit not anything else. When she heard someone ask if she was alright, she looked towards a purple mare from the floor. She wanted to answer the mare, but her scarf made it hard for her to talk. So was the point of it. So all she was able to do was make an 'uh-huh' sound with her nose.

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

@@SilverHeart,
@,
@,
@@Evilshy,
@@FortyTwo42,
@@Gloomfury,
@@FirstPonySpectre,
@@Scribblegroove,
@@Golbez,
@@Windbreaker,
((sorry about the length.   I had a lot to respond to in this post.))

Sunset Glow

 

As Aero told Sunset about Shadowhide, she gave a thoughtful nod. "Ah, I understand, I won't bring it up if it makes her uncomfortable." With that, the stallion made his way across the carriage floor to greet the mare in the back, who didn't seem very happy in general.

Just about then, Cherry began climbing through the window, entering in a most unorthodox way. She chuckled at the sight, this Cherry Bomb was a real character, and Sunset enjoyed having that sort of pony around from time to time. It served to lighten an otherwise dull moment if nothing else. Sunset was about to open her mouth to say something, but stopped, being thrown off by the sudden cry out from the far end of the coach. Apparently somepony had brought a pet snake on the trip with them. She tensed up, being somewhat unnerved by the thought, but didn't lose her composure. After all, snakes that ponies kept as pets were non venomous, and generally didn't bite. This didn't help her personal feeling on being near them though. They weren't exactly a usual pet, and not being around them, she wasn't used to the sight of one. "Just as long as it stays over there, I'll be fine.." She thought to herself, giving a quick glance past Emerald, to where Aero had flipped his lid.

She chuckled lightly at the nonchalant response given by Poppy Seed. Something about her lack of fear to the situation made it comedic in contrast to Aero Wind. The stereotype of mares being more afraid of creepy crawlies didn't seem to apply to this bunch. As if to reinforce that thought, Belle was showing a lot of interest in seeing the snake, and posing questions like crazy to the unsociable mare, who'd seemed to open up to her at the moment. Suddenly Aero Wind hit the wall with a loud thump, causing Sunset to jump a little bit. "Oh my.." She commented, her head tilted, half cringing in embarrassment for the stallion. She shook her head, and directed her attention back to the conversation. Perhaps the excitement would blow over soon.

 

Sunset listened as Emerald described her own profession as a diplomat for the empire, then commented on Sunset's practice. Scribblegroove gave his input next, adding his interest in the production of the candles. Sunset was more than happy to have so much interest in her work. She laughed when Scribblegroove mentioned his enchanted toast. "That's quite funny, a very useful enchantment I must say. I think I'll be keeping that idea in mind." She said, still giggling slightly as she spoke. She sighed lightly, regaining her composure to some degree before continuing on to answer his question. "I have a special process I use while the wax is still liquid. You could use the enchantments to imbue other objects, although I've found it works best when you use it in candles and incense, as it seems to release the magic more effectively. Though, you're right, perhaps later I can tell you more."

 

Sunset paused momentarily pondering what Emerald had said about being a diplomat. Running the sentence over in her head. "Strangely, would you believe that those who hold animosity are often the most accomodating? It's true." She felt some air of unease at this thought. Having read a couple good crime/mystery stories before, the idea was unsettling. "Do you find it somewhat strange that you get better treatment from those with the most animosity? I mean.. if it were me, I'd be afraid they were trying to poison me or something." She chuckled jokingly "Perhaps I've been reading too many stories." She smiled warmly, thinking back over the idea, realizing her only experience was second hand, and more than likely fictional for all she knew.

 

Bittersweet had made her way over to Scribblegroove, offering him her phial of basil to relieve his cold. After offering her a place next to him, she seemed to relax to some degree. Sunset felt sorry for the poor mare, being so timid. She took her seat, and as Scribblegroove looked over his dosage of basil leaf, Sunset could practically see the build up that was about to erupt from the pink mare's tense expression. "A pleasure, dear. You can relax though, we won't bite." Sunset smiled, hoping she could help her to relax. It was a large part of her profession after all. "My name is Sunset Glow." She added, feeling as though it may help, even if the quiet mare had already overheard her name. She hadn't directly addressed Bittersweet yet, so it was only polite.

 

Belinda suddenly stood, her snake wrapped around her neck, and began moving across the carriage in their direction. Sunset tensed up slightly, partly in discomfort at the thought of the snake being near her, but this particular pony did not seem overly nice, or even polite. She avoided looking too much, as much as the snake bothered her, the thought of confrontation was unsettling, and would likely mean the reptile would end up closer to her than if she avoided contact. Sunset wasn't normally one to avoid ponies, but this mare in particular had made it very clear, she was not interested in being sociable.

 

Suddenly the odd mare wearing the scarf fell to the floor, stiff as a board. It was as though a whole comedy of errors was taking place over Emerald's shoulder. It was rather distracting to say the least, but this moment caught Sunset's attention. Shadowhide got to her first, luckily somepony else had noticed. "Oh no, is she alright? What happened?" Sunset asked, glancing over in concern.

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~The story rolls on~ (we advise everyone read these, as it serves to roll the plot along, and will pertain to everyone's character. Silver and I will both be working on posting these from time to time, to advance the plot as we go.)
 

The interior of the carriage gradually grew darker, as the trees grew taller and thicker. It wouldn't have been a stretch of the imagination to assume night had fallen, well, that is if everypony hadn't woken up just hours earlier. The carriage slowly came to a stop, though it was almost unnoticeable with the low level of light. Wagon Wheel came from the front of the carriage and made his way around to the rear, fishing something out from the storage trunk. Suddenly the light of a lantern illuminated the surrounding forest, revealing thick woods. Old gnarled trunks were dispersed ever more veiled by the darkness of the forest as one looked through the gaps between them. The trees were decorated with thick vines, and undergrowth that defied logic, with absolutely no sunlight. Wagon Wheel lit another lantern, and hung both of them on the front of the carriage, before getting himself back into place, and continuing on. The carriage, once again, accelerating with next to no feeling of change in momentum from it's stand still position.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Midnight Scribbler

[Ihei 711]

Dove Marigold

 

"It appears we're travelling through the forest now. Would anypony like to share stories?" Dove smiled brightly, although nopony else could see her. She knew this well, and this was a perfect opportunity to swipe something, but she couldn't see inside ponies' saddlebags in the dark either. She couldn't if she wanted to. "I would like to hear some ghost stories," Dove said eagerly, her eyes twinkling.

 

Realizing that she had interrupted the conversation, she quickly apologized. "Pardon my rudeness - were you saying something?" Dove asked, hoping it wasn't in a rude tone.

[FortyTwo42 1,287]

Shadowhide

 

@@Gloomfury,

Fortunately, Belle seems to be fine. She's still awake and responsive. But it's proving difficult to communicate with her, since her scarf which covers her mouth muffles her spoken words, and she can't write notes in her current position. Why wear a scarf over her mouth anyway? It's clearly on by choice, since nothing's stopping her from taking it off if she wanted to. Much like the reason for her falling over, Shadowhide can't think of any reasonable reason why she would wear a scarf that prevents her from speaking by choice. Still, there could be a good reason for wearing it, so Shadowhide best make sure it's alright to remove it before doing so. 'May I remove your scarf so I can speak to you?' she asked. Hopefully she can still nod.

 

@@Midnight Scribbler,

After hearing Sunset ask about Belle's situation, Shadowhide glanced back at her and responded 'She fell over for no discernible reason. However, she seems to be fine.' She then turned back to Belle, but upon doing so noticed the surroundings outside the window are now being lit up. Obviously not sunlight, the forest is too dense for that, as the previous darkness can attest. She recalled what she heard the coach master announce earlier. 'I will be stopping the carriage only once and that is for the sole purpose of lighting the carriage's lanterns.' Lanterns. A lantern creates light by sustaining a small flame within itself. And due to the light outside, these lanterns have definitely just been lit. Which means there's two or more small fires just outside the carriage. And for Shadowhide, this realization was incredibly horrid.

 

Shadowhide's whole body shivered and she stumbled a few steps backwards. Her mind kept repeating 'Get off the carriage!' In her panic-consumed state, she immediately stopped paying attention to the ponies she was just speaking to. However, she barely remembered actually getting off the carriage would lead to imprisonment, so that's not an option. Her best remaining option was to sit down and use whatever strategy she could to calm herself down. Not being able to directly see the lanterns helped her nerves somewhat, but they’re still there. She chose the most isolated seat she could find, which turned out to not be very isolated after all because the isolated seats where already taken by the shyer ponies and Belinda. She sat down, and in her best attempt to take her mind off the lanterns, stared at her hooves and began counting quickly and quietly in an almost trance-like state without end. 'One, two, three, four, five, six...'

 

---

 

Aero Wind

 

As his brain was just in overdrive, Aero laid on the floor in a daze for a few moments as he slowly pieced together what just happened. Last thing he remembered, an angry and ferocious snake hellbent on eating him was chasing him around the carriage... And given he's still alive and well, he's probably misremembering something there. He slowly got up and tentatively looked around to make sure the snake isn't near him, and when he saw her still with Belinda, he was relieved she wasn’t close to him. He wondered if he could get away if the snake actually chased him later. He had no idea how fast snakes could move, so he wasn't sure if he could outrun her. Although he does have the advantage of flight, so he could always take to the air to escape a snake. That last thought made him feel slightly calmer about sharing a carriage with one.

 

The next thing Aero noticed was Shadowhide, who looked like she's seen a ghost. And if Shadowhide looks like she's seen a ghost, it probably means what she saw was fire. Aero glanced around to see if he could find a fire, but saw nothing. That's really strange, Shadowhide's reacting like she saw fire, but he couldn't think of anything nearby that would be on fire. He looked around the room one more time, and when his gaze fell on Sunset, it suddenly all made sense. She must've lit one of her candles in front of Shadowhide! It's the only possible reason! He walked over to Sunset, and accusingly pointed a hoof at her, angrily saying 'You just lit a candle in front of Shadowhide, didn't you?'

[Scribblegroove 565]

As Cherry climbed through the window right next to him, he saw his own mucus dangling in her mana again. Wondering if he should say something, he wanted to stop her and mention it, but she was so determined to get to her seat that he didn't really get the time to do so. At any rate, it would come back to him eventually, and he'd deal with it when it did. He coughed discreetly and just let her move past, trying not to look at her mane again but looking somewhere else instead. Remembering what Bittersweet had said, he emptied some of the vial's contents in his mouth and started chewing. Though the taste wasn't very pleasurable, he could manage, and the effects were nearly immediately noticable. Breathing in through his nose, which at first made a grumbling, snorting nosie, but quickly silenced itself and turned into a healthy, silent flow of air into his lungs. He blinked a few times, and sighed as he chewed.

 

@@FirstPonySpectre

"Ah... Much better..." He said, feeling relieved of both his headache and his clogged nose. Right at that moment he heard a shout from next to him. It was Bittersweet, who clearly tried to join conversation with the others, but didn't quite manage to do it very subtly. "Oh dear..." He thought as he looked at her facial expression and body language, which indicated total shock and embarassment. "Hey, calm down now." He said a bit awkwardly as he turned towards her, leaving Sunset and Emerald to talk between the two of them. "My name is Scribblegroove." He said, softly but with an encouraging tone in his voice. "Sorry for not introducing myself earlier, that was incredibly rude of me." He added.

 

Giving her back the remainder of the powder, placing it right in her hoof, he smiled. "Thank you again for this. It helped a lot. I wonder how it comes that you have this on you. Are you an alchemist, perhaps? Or a pharmacologist?" He asked innocently, though he wasn't stupid. Considering her cutie mark, which was clearly a show globe, anypony who knew what it was would've guessed it immediately. "If that's the case you're really good because I feel completely healthy!" He lied a little there. He still knew and felt he was sick, but the real discomfort and pain had gone. Only a slight lightheadedness and the general sense of being feverish remained. Even though he had only just met this mare he felt quite sorry for her. It seemed she had a fear of strangers, or perhaps large groups. But clearly she was trying very badly to socialise, and it was unfair that nopony paid attention to that.

 

Around them, it slowly got darker, and a sense of cozyness and at the same time fear came over Scribblegroove. Looking outside, he could barely see the trees that stood around the carriage. "Perhaps we have just entered a void of nothingness and this is all an illusion." he thought jokingly, but the fear was real. Suddenly, the outside lit up, and he could see the forest again. As eerily as it looked, he was a lot less fearful of things looking creepy than of the darkness. He exhaled, and only then he realised he had been holding his breath. Slightly embarassed that he still had such a puerile phobia as fear of the dark, he looked around, hoping that nopony had noticed. In the badly lit carriage he could see the faces of all the other ponies only slightly. A mare further in the back mentioned ghost stories... He shivered. "Oh by Celestia please no..." he whispered, and then he snickered silently at his own preposterous fears. 

[EcstaticWind 572]

Poppy Seed

@@FortyTwo42,

 

Poppy paused in her previous conversations when the idiot who smacked into the wall accused one of the others of lighting a candle. Noting the lack of light inside and the lighting outside, she came to a more logical and rational conclusion while dropping her former warm tone in exchange for a more biting, sarcastic one. "She obviously did, which is exactly why there is no fire inside the carriage and there is light outside. Marvelous perception there, mate. Engage your brain for just two seconds and you might realize that they lit the lanterns outside."

 

Poppy normally wouldn't have gotten involved in other arguments, since she wasn't as eagerly heroic as some of her friends. but this one...well, she had even less tolerance for what she considered idiocy. And this guy was displaying lots of that.

[Ihei 711]

@@Windbreaker, @@FortyTwo42,

 

Dove Marigold

 

Dove now noticed how ignorant she was being - now a stallion was yelling at somepony else and an argument is about to break out. At first, she thought it would be rather enjoyable to watch: if Poppy hadn't intruded. It would've resorted to hoof fighting. Instead, she snapped out of her stupor and got up. "Please excuse me," Dove nodded at Cherry, leaving her and approaching Poppy from behind.

 

"Now, now, we're nearing the resort. We can't have tensions rise by then, can we? We all came together - if we're together, we should enjoy ourselves peacefully," Dove smiled, putting a hoof on Poppy's shoulder. Now going up to the stallion - whatever his name was - she said, "Now, sir, I'm sure nopony meant to hurt this mare. Please don't get so angry - nopony meant any harm to anypony."

 

Dove hoped she stopped the argument for now - if everypony were angry at one another, she wouldn't be able to swipe anything, after all.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Kaia