private Darkness over Equestria (RP)

[Commander Tangent 861]

Lunar looked too Strider and gave him a smile. " perhapse I can even give some tips on it. One of the most relaxing things in life is tea with soft music" lunar said, standing up with a pop before leaning down again on all fours. He quite liked Strider, a calm and peaceful mind. He seemed to have his energies and his mind open. "I hope I get time to talk to the many people here too, they all seem so interesting." He smiled.

[Little Red 1,529]

Red was slightly surprised when Strider fell back to walk with Lunar and Tyra. She felt a prickle of-- jealousy, she realized. For some reason, the idea that Strider would... walk with the new ponies... hadn't crossed her mind, and she was oddly affected by it, though she knew it was unreasonable. But she had never really known some pony other than Strider. How could she befriend any of these ponies, which she would clearly have to do since Strider had abandoned-- had chosen to befriend the others?

She glanced at Radiant ahead. He was probably there to scout and so that he could be on the front lines if any fight came. She trotted forward to him, nodding once in greeting.

[Chip Circuit 1,842]

@@Little Red, 

 

As Radiant was walking at the front of the group, the sound of rocks being pushed aside by his hooves with his scarf still fluttering along the breeze that swept over him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Red come up from behind and she walked along side him giving him a small nod as a greeting. 

 

Radiant nodded his head to Red and looked forward again. "What can I do for you Red?" He asked not sure why she came up to the front with him, one who was still a bit a stranger to her. 

Edited June 8, 2015 by Chip Circuit

[Little Red 1,529]

"I figured since everyone else was taking time bonding, I should too." She said, giving a tiny smile. And perhaps she was... a little... lonely. She got lonely more often than she would like to admit. She eyed in front of them, not looking at Radiant, absentmindedly examining the terrain as she looked for ice-breakers. "In case we run into a fight, how do you fight?" She asked, honestly. As they would be the first to enter a fight, it would probably be good to know a little about him.

[Unicorncob 5,690]

"Aye, it seems we are definitely set for what is lurking out here," Tyra nodded, grinning up at Lunar.

 

She nodded to Strider as he approached, and as he and Lunar began conversation, she noticed Red and Radiant at the front, beginning their own.

 

Perhaps this would be a good time to bond with somepony, she figured. Only Alex and Caliber were not engaged in conversation.

 

She grinned and approached the two.

"I must apologies for my actions toward the two of you yesterday," she began, a modest yet meek smile on her face, "I feel as if we have gotten off on the wrong hoof...or paw, in your case, Alex. Perhaps we may start over?"

[Chip Circuit 1,842]

@@Little Red

 

Sentinel continued walking forward keeping his eyes fixated forward, constantly scanning ahead for anything that could be of concern. "I see, well it would be nice to know more about those I'm traveling with." He said with his gaze still locked ahead of them.

 

Radiant's eyes jumped to glance over his shoulder for a second at Red's question, he realized being that he was keeping his magic secret just in case seeing how their two groups had fought already he would like to have the jump with such an advantage if hostilities arise. So it may be suspicious to them why he would carry two swords, his eyes returned ahead of them. "I'm a defensive fighter, I have dedicated my time in training to specializing in self defense as well as the defense of others." He stated confidently as his eye wandered to red for a second. "How about you, how is it you fight?"

Edited June 8, 2015 by Chip Circuit

[P-Jay 1,987]

"i thought we already did...?" caliber murmured, before grinning. "but! im up for that! im caliber, the wanderer!" he declared proudly. "used to be the 4th strongest swordspony in equestria!" he grinned, and pulled an amnesia look. "and who are you? i dont believe iv met you before...either of you!" he gestured at alex.

Edited June 8, 2015 by PeytonJay

[Little Red 1,529]

@@Chip Circuit,

Red nodded. "I try to fight defensively as well, when in a one-on-one situation. I am a swords-mare. I tend to try and use stealth and speed to my advantage. I am not a very good offensive fighter," she admitted. "Strider has been teaching me, but I have surpassed him in skill of the sword."

[Midnight_Aurora 571]

Amorè smiles as she watches the group. She detects Jealousy and Lonelyness from Red. She feels sorry such a good pony has to go through such a state.

 

She notices all the ponies are talking and realizes she might not be comfortable joining them. She knows if she does, Sh might not be able to keep her secret from almost all of them for much longer.

 

She decides to reach out with her presence and detect for potential hearts near the group. She would like advanced warning of anything friendly or otherwise.

[Chip Circuit 1,842]

@@Little Red

 

Radiant turned his head and nodded at Red again soon returning his gaze forward to scan the area. "It is a good way to fight, I myself am still a good offensive fighter mainly because of my ability to counter attack when the opportunity arises." He said his eyes wandering back to red for a second. "If you like I can assist you in training, I did spend ten years training with the resistance."

 

@@Midnight_Aurora

 

Radiant then turned his attention to Amore for a second noticing she was seeming rather distracted. "If you like Amore you may join us in out conversation, I know how you would like to make friends." He offered turning his gaze forward leaving his ears open to either mare that would talk either to him or to the other. 

[Alex Van Gamer 230]

Alex glanced over towards Tyra as she approached her and Caliber. At the greeting and the mention of a reintroduction, she opened her mouth as she tried to think up a response when Caliber spoke up before her. After he was done speaking, she smiled "Right, I didn't really get to introduce myself before cuz of all my huffin' and puffin'." She chuckled a bit at that.

 

"Anyway~! The name's Alex Van Gamer!" The canine replied, proudly. "Or as some of the dogs back home would say: 'The magical gem-finding pooch of Equestria!'. Ha! But I don't really claim that as my title myself. Don't really have a title. Heck, 'Van Gamer' isn't even a part of my birth-given name, but it has a nice ring to it in my opinion. Don'tcha think?" She asked with a grin.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Alex VanGamer

[Little Red 1,529]

Red smiled slightly. "I... would enjoy that, perhaps." She said. It would be nice, learning from some-pony other than Strider. She glanced at Amore, a little guardedly. Well, getting to know her might provide valuable information on her, she reflected. She smiled slightly at Amore. She felt almost shy around all these new ponies.

[HigurSan 195]

Ironeye Sungazer

 

She'd been running for... how long now? It must have been days. It felt like years. She'd been running since she spotted the fire through the trees. She'd not even cried when she saw it was her home... former home now. It'd been a good spot. A spot where one could settle down, be safe. Well... as safe as you could ever be in the Everfree Forest. Somepony had told her it was even worse than the days of Old Equestrian, and it'd been nightmare worthy then. The magic being sucked from the land had done... things, wyrd things.

 

But it seemed even there was not beyond the centaurs' clutches. They'd sniffed her out, started chasing her, as she fled from her burning place of refuge. They were fast, well trained. Quite possibly they could outrun even the most athletic of ponies at a dead run. But she was quick, and she was clever. She'd studied the area with all its nooks, crannies, dead ends, and double-backs for years. Now it was paying off. She'd been driven south, or so they thought. But it was exactly the direction she wanted to go.

 

She had already planned to head south beginning a year ago. She knew the route. It was merely a matter of when. She wasn't fully prepared when the time came, but then again she never would be. There would always be something unexpected. Something would always surprise her. But losing most of her supplies had been a hard blow, and being run down for several days straight was beginning to wear on her. She'd had to dip into her reserves of magic, stored in crystals, to power her weary muscles, to levitate herself along in some cases.

 

She thought that she'd lost them at one point. For a minute she thought she could rest. But now something else had picked up her trail. Using magic outside of herself was dangerous, she could be detected. But she needed to know what was after her. She gave a small amount of her rapidly decreasing reserves to cast a weak scrying spell. It told her enough. It was bandits.

 

She'd been running from them for two days now. She wasn't sure why they were chasing her. There was probably a bounty posted. Maybe they were just doing it for fun. Either way, she was run almost to the bone by the time she neared Appleoosa. It had been planned to be her first major stop on her intended journey. Being abandoned, she would be able to rest in a building with a roof for a couple of night before moving onward.

 

As she crested a rise, she saw a group of other ponies moving in front of her. Ugh. This was bad. She couldn't deal with this right now. Maybe she could've ambushed the bandits in the town, but these ponies were between her and it. Her pursuers were near, she could sense it. Looking behind, she saw a pegasus as a dot on the horizon skyline, rapidly drawing nearer. She needed time, but didn't have it. Nothing for it then. When there was only fight or flight, and you could not longer flea...

 

The air around her horn shimmered. "Non Agatatio Longinquus Volant-" she began under her breath. The dot was rapidly developing into an armed bandit. "Internus Aegis-" She could see the gleam of the spear. "Contrudo!" The plunging pegasus halted mid-air, only a few meters above and behind her. A glittering box had formed around his body, hissing in the air. His eyes moved in terror in his head, muscles otherwise unable to move. She looked coldly up and him, face as harsh as winter. "Debello..."

 

The box snapped closed, shrinking from full size to nothingness in an instant. The body encased within was forced to shrink with it. But limited by bone structure and so on... Looking away, she tried to move down the hill towards the group. Either they'd try to kill or, or they wouldn't. It didn't matter. She'd- She was falling, rolling down the hill in a heap before she could blink. An exhausted body finally gave out. She couldn't move, she could hardly think. This was so stupid... all she'd been through, all she'd suffered... done in by mere physical exhaustion. Reaching the bottom of the hill, she came to a stop, completely. She didn't move. Her eye, the one not buried in the dirt, looked weakly at the group in front of her.

 

[Chip Circuit 1,842]

Radiant saw a mare heading toward the group, he got into a battle stance ready to draw a sword from its scabbard on his back when collapsed at the bottom of the hill. On closer inspection he could tell she had been run ragged, her coat was a mess, matted with dirt and sweat. He ran up to her as she collapsed into the dirt, as he approached her he wasn't sure if he could consider her ally or foe.

 

Radiant stood over the mare for a second looking her over with his usual stoic expression with his scarf catching the breeze. It was against his very fiber to leave a pony defenseless, after all he had trained and dedicated his life to protecting others. He let out a sigh as he managed to get his head under her and hoist her onto his back. He figured if she had been running to be in such a poor shape then she was no bandit, a bandit wouldn't be pushed to such a condition in their own territory. Radiant walked back to the group with the mare on his  back. "We will help you." He said to reassure her she was safe. 

 

Radiant reached the group again and reached back into his saddle bag to pull out one of his last few trail rations, he handed it over to the mare draped over his back. "Here you should eat, you are weak you could use the energy." He suggested waiting to see if she even had the strength to accept it.

[P-Jay 1,987]

caliber had saw the mare, and he dashed into the woods.

 

it was anyone's guess why he did.

 

but his reason was revealed when he came out with some plants and berries. he walked over to her. "i got some food, too." he said, offering it to her. she didnt seem all that strong at the moment, though...

 

'i hope with all my heart i dont have to chew it for her...' he thought.

 

even though he was being generally friendly, his hoof was still ready to draw his sword at a moments notice. cant be too cautious.

[Midnight_Aurora 571]

Amorè had sensed her coming. She moves to the front where she fell. Amorè says, "She is weary and scared."

 

She offers her hoof, "Running from bandits? Well we entend to stop them. I am Amorè Crystal. These are my friends." If the pony accepts her hoof she help her to her hooves.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Midnight_Aurora

[Little Red 1,529]

Red cautiously followed the rest of the group and eyed the fallen pony. She looked up at several figures on the cliff.

 

--

 

Four bandits approached the cliff edge.

"Wow, that unicorn could use magic." One bandit whistled, glancing at where Ironeye had destroyed his ally's body.

"That's a big group down there," another, apparently the leader, said.

"Do you think that's the group Tall Cloud was talking about?" A pegasus mare floating above them asked.

"Yes," the leader, a bulky unicorn, said. "Whatever. She doesn't really matter." He turned away.

"Don't you think Thorn will be... upset with us? We've been gone for two weeks already and haven't gotten anything! He'll--" the pegasus mare began, but the unicorn cut her off.

"I will take all responsibility." He glanced at where his comrade had been crushed. "Better to be in trouble than to be dead." He glanced back at the group. Though I have a feeling these ponies... and griffin and diamond dog... may show up again. The unicorn mused to himself.

The other three bandits were silent, watching him. The leader turned away. "Come on, let's go back to base. These guys will almost certainly be trouble," he said calmly. The four bandits trotted away.

[Reaver 350]

Strider trotted over to the group crowded around the mysterious mare. "Are you alright?" he asked the mare, worriedly, and abruptly realized the significance of her fall. She had been running from something.

He gave a quick scan, worried, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Satisfied, he began looking over the mare for injuries. "That was quite a fall," he noted. He began pulling out some bandages out of his saddlebags, just in case it turned out she was bleeding, though she didn't appear to be.

He glanced at Caliber now, and nodded at him briefly. He would have verbally congratulated Caliber at considering the pony's likely need for food., but Caliber was rather prideful, and might have taken the congratulations as a put-down if anything.

[Midnight_Aurora 571]

Amorè says, "Strider, there was five chasing her. She destroyed one but the other four feel to have left."

 

She points to the top of the cliff. She knows using her sense won't increase the likelihood of her going feral. She does however know normal Vamponies would have said heard the heartbeats of up to 5 others. She won't lie to them. She cares too much about them to lie.

 

She smiles genuinely at the mare still offering to help her up.

[P-Jay 1,987]

caliber sighed. "if you dont eat the food, ill be forced to chew it for you..." he said, trying to get her to take a bite.

 

"i mean it..." caliber said, as he popped a some berries and some leaves into his mouth. he chewed, and spat out the poultice. "please, i dont wanna do this..." he said, as he started to inch it to her mouth.

 

sighing, he stuffed it into her mouth. he held her head up so she'll swallow it naturally.

 

he looked at strider with a look that breathed 'YUCK!'

[Alex Van Gamer 230]

Alex had been watching the scene play out from the sidelines. She wasn't very knowledgeable with situations like this. So she decided to leave it to those who did. Upon seeing the Caliber stuff the pre-chewed food into the mare's mouth, held a fist over her mouth, looking just as disgusted as Strider was by just watching it.

 

She was thankful that she had decided not to eat anything yet... That probably wouldn't have ended on a high note... But still, that was probably nothing in comparison to the pony that was forced to swallow somepony's chewed up food without even knowing who they were... There were probably better solutions to this that weren't so... gross... Like, grinding the food between two rocks? Was that a thing? The diamond dog wasn't too sure. But, like she concluded earlier, these ponies were probably more experienced in this field than she was, so the canine simply turned her head away in case Caliber 'fed' her again, not wanting to see the same disturbing thing a second time.

[Unicorncob 5,690]

 

"i thought we already did...?" caliber murmured, before grinning. "but! im up for that! im caliber, the wanderer!" he declared proudly. "used to be the 4th strongest swordspony in equestria!" he grinned, and pulled an amnesia look. "and who are you? i dont believe iv met you before...either of you!" he gestured at alex.

 

Alex glanced over towards Tyra as she approached her and Caliber. At the greeting and the mention of a reintroduction, she opened her mouth as she tried to think up a response when Caliber spoke up before her. After he was done speaking, she smiled "Right, I didn't really get to introduce myself before cuz of all my huffin' and puffin'." She chuckled a bit at that.

 

"Anyway~! The name's Alex Van Gamer!" The canine replied, proudly. "Or as some of the dogs back home would say: 'The magical gem-finding pooch of Equestria!'. Ha! But I don't really claim that as my title myself. Don't really have a title. Heck, 'Van Gamer' isn't even a part of my birth-given name, but it has a nice ring to it in my opinion. Don'tcha think?" She asked with a grin.

 

"Well met, Caliber and Alex van Gamer," Tyra greeted cheerfully, putting a hoof to her chest and offering a respectful bow of the head, "I am Tyra Shatterhoof, of the Frozen North's Shatterhoof clan!"

 

She perked up as she spotted a mare approaching the others. She didn't enter her battle stance, since she appeared too weakened to fight. Especially considering she'd collapsed in the dirt in front of them.

She joined the others, crowding around her to offer assistance. She decided to chip in, and offer the mare a piece of wrapped salmon from her bag.

 

"Allow us to assist you, stranger," she offered softly, nudging the wrapped up slab of fish toward her, "You do not look well at all."

[Reaver 350]

 

 

"Strider, there was five chasing her. She destroyed one but the other four feel to have left."

Strider glanced about quickly, and decided that the mysterious mare had more than enough done well for her. "I'm going to go check it out, just in case," he said to Amore, noting briefly the way she had phrased her statement. Not that he doubted her, but better safe than sorry.

Feel to have left, he mused as he galloped up to the cliffside. He struggled up the loose rocks and gravel, and made it to the top, readying himself for a fight. But Amore had been right, and any bandits that had been there previously were now gone. He took the alone time to muse as he glanced down at Amore. Feel to have left--that doesn't sounds like a vampony ability. It sounds more like... his heart plummeted as everything abruptly made sense.

Red despised Changelings. They had taken everything from her, when she was just a filly. He prayed quietly that Amore wasn't a Changeling--if she was, it would cause... difficulties among the group. He looked at Amore, and saw her still offering her hoof out to the mare.

It doesn't matter what she is, he realized now, even though Changelings are one of the main plagues of Equestria now. The only thing that matters is who she is, and she's a good pony, he decided upon. No matter what she may be. And he would give her the chance to explain herself to him, and even if she didn't, he decided he would trust her. With this new decision made, he trotted down to join the group again.

[HigurSan 195]

Ironeye Sungazer

 

She wanted to scream as she was hoisted onto one of the stallions' back. It felt like every muscle in her body was screeching in pain. Her head was throbbing like it'd been smacked a couple times with a hoofball bat, plus an added measure of morning-after-drunkness. So to say that she felt completely and totally miserable was nothing like a stretch. What's more, while she knew that she shouldn't look a gift pony in the mouth, the manner in which they were helping her was beyond humiliating. It was all she could do to force herself to not try and kill the idiot with the berries as the... oh by the Sun, she thought she was going to be sick!

 

Thankfully she wasn't, but she managed to force her mouth shut before the next batch neared her face. The look of wild panic mixed with cold anger would be immediately clear in her eyes. She eagerly substituted it with the proffered trail rations and fish, positively wolfing it down with what little strength she had. Fish wasn't good for ponies. Meat in general wrought havoc on their digestive systems. So she'd be cursing herself for it later, but she had to show that she was eating. Eating -anything- else rather than those wretched berries. Once done, she slumped back down on the stallion's back, completely down for the count. It was... warm. It made her nervous. She couldn't remember a time where she was comfortable in that way.

 

There would be something approximating a look of thanks on her face, though she seemed unwilling to look anypony directly in the eye. Her muscles were too worn out to move, and had likely been damaged by overuse. The bandages and food would probably help. But it was still doubtful she'd be able to walk under her own power for at least a couple of days. That irritated her severely. She might be in these ponies seemingly good graces for the moment, but she didn't trust it to last very long. How long could any group put up with a total dead weight, eating their food and needing to be carried. It was worse than newborn foals even. At least they hadn't had a choice in the matter.

Edited June 8, 2015 by HigurSan

[Chip Circuit 1,842]

Radiant turned to the group after the new mare ate some of the food offered to her, he was surprised to see her actually eat fish, it only served to show how bad her condition was. "We should continue on and try to get to our destination, her condition is far to severe to stay out in the wilds for too long especially if we run into combat." He suggested as he alone began trekking forward again with the exhausted mare draped over his back.

 

Radiant was fine carrying the mare, he always liked helping others and will do what he can to assist those in need. He would carry any pony for as long as needed if it meant being of assistance. "No need to worry, you just focus on recovering." He said to the mare in a hushed tone so only she could hear it.