Life or Death

[Strong Hooves 289]

Ooc:

 

http://mlpforums.com/topic/19542-life-or-death/page__pid__435381#entry435381

 

 

The quiet landscape of the seemingly deserted field gave a false sense of safety as Strong Hooves walked onward to his destination. His twin shotgun battle saddle was loaded and ready to fire, whether it be at a zombie pony, or a bandit, trying to make off with Strongs supplies. The snap of a twig caught his attention and he quickly whipped around to see a snarling zombie pony charging at him. With one smooth pull of the mouth trigger, both shotguns went off, splattering the zombie into chunks that scattered all around. Strong glared at the body before turning back, his destination was close, the old ruins of Ponyville. It was a civilization more or less, at least it was where he could rest and buy supplies. He passed through this town time and time again, seeing it as the least likely town he would be robbed in. He sighed, even so, he knew he could trust nopony, he had to keep to himself, only watching out for his own back. It was what he stuck with... it was the safest choice anyway...

Edited June 8, 2012 by Strong Hooves

[Finesthour 7,284]

Rose opened her eyes to face a ragged pony ontop of her, his foul breath causing her nose to wrinkel in disgust. She almost questioned who he was, but he brought out a small knife up to her neck. He said very softly,

"If you scream, I gut you like a mule"

The way that this colt said this caused Rose to shiver. Every part of her body was screaming for help, but she could not let it out. The colt then began to softly caress the body of Rose inside the old shed in the ruins of Ponyville.

[Strong Hooves 289]

Strong made it to Ponyville, and just like last time, the ponies would either size him up from a sideways glance, or skitter away from his large size in fear. Many stallions looked his way, making talk about him in silence, whether or not they would speak with him or just leave him be. Strong kept his gaze forward, his face expressionless. He passed by some of the old shacks, and heard an odd noise coming from one of them. He heard a pony talking in it, but only caught "-gut you like a mule" and the whimpering of a mare. His chest flared, although he stated a loner, he couldn't bear to let other ponies be harmed. He walked up to the shed, flinging the door open to reveal the stallion with the mare pinned under him, he recognized the mare, the one who ran the inn that he stayed at during his visits, Rose was it? "Don't even think about it pal" growled Strong, he grabbed the stallion by his tail and yanked him out of the shed. The stallion stood and tried to charge, but was met with a large hoof slamming into his chest, where several ribs could be heard cracking as the stallion fell back gasping for air and tried to drag itself away from Strong. Strong snorted and turned to Rose, "You ok?" he said rather bluntly.

[Finesthour 7,284]

Rose stayed flat on the ground, not sure what had just occured to her. One moment she was about to be raped by a smelly colt, the next another one was playing hero. What the hell happened to her? She began to tremble fiercely, as she began to go into shock.

[Strong Hooves 289]

"Dammit" cursed Strong under his breath as she went into shock. He quickly, but gently took her out of the shed, propping her head up as he did, <face is red raise the head, face is pale raise the tail> he thought to himself as he remembered the rhyme for shock treatment. He took his canteen, as well as a small rag, wet it slight, and lay it over her forehead as he spoke to her "Hey, come on now, just calm down, everythings alright, just breathe" he told her.

[Finesthour 7,284]

She was panting quickly, but still retained consciousnesses. She quietly whispered,

"D-don't... h-hurt... m-me..."

[Strong Hooves 289]

"Hey, hey... just calm down, I ain't gonna hurt you ok?" said Strong as he took a gentler tone of voice. He wiped away some of her mane from her sweat covered face as he looked in her eyes, hoping she would calm down.

[Finesthour 7,284]

Rose's chest was still rising and falling when she made eye contact with the chocolate colored pony. Slowly, her breathing began to calm, her heartbeat returning to normal.

[Strong Hooves 289]

Strongs face kept it's almost expressionless look as she returned to normal breathing, but even then he still felt a slight twinge of relief. He gave a curt, approving nod, then slowly helped the mare up. "Are you alright?" he asked again flatly.

[Finesthour 7,284]

Rose's breathing was shallow and deep as she said,

"I-I think so. What the hell happened..."

She took in another deep breath and looked at him again.

"And who are you?"

[Strong Hooves 289]

Strong gave a small grunt and stared out to where the now crippled colt had dragged himself off to. "A colt tried to uh.... have his way with you. Lucky I happened to be walking by at the time." he looked at her with a stern look, "You need to be more careful than that. This isn't a place to let your guard down" he said bluntly. He then answered her question, "You don't remember me? I come here every few months or so, and stay at your inn. In case you can't remember, the names Strong Hooves"

[Finesthour 7,284]

Rose shook her head and looked down at the ground, now rubbing the back of her head.

"I... I don't really remember anything before now. It's just a big blur."

[Strong Hooves 289]

Strong raised a curious eyebrow, <how hard did that colt hit her?> he thought to himself. "Well... what bits and pieces CAN you remember?" he asked her, wondering how far back the injury had taken her memory.

[Finesthour 7,284]

Rose shook her head again, continuing her rubbing.

"I... I don't know. I guess I remember my name... It's..."

She took a small pause and closed her eyes.

"R-Rose!"

[Strong Hooves 289]

Strong sighed, "Well... that's a start..." he said as he stood back up. He then flatly added, "Well Rose, you also run the inn here in the Ponyville ruins. I come here every few months or so and stay there a couple nights while I buy supplies and trade with other travelers. Come with me and I'll show you". He stood up and began walking toward the inn, his long strides easily overtaking Roses much smaller ones. As sorry as he felt for this mare, what could he do to help? He wasn't a phsychiatrist. As of now, he merely worried about getting a place to rest for the night, and Roses inn was the only place.

[Finesthour 7,284]

Rose stood still for a moment, recollecting her lost thoughts. As soon as she noticed he was walking away, she quickly ran up beside him, staying extremely close to his side. She felt the safest right beside her new friend.

[Strong Hooves 289]

Strong looked down to see how closely she walked next to him, it made him slightly uncomfortable. He took a step to the side, but she followed suit. He sighed and continued onward to the inn. "Here it is" he said.

[Finesthour 7,284]

Rose looked up at the Inn that was supposedly hers. She still kept close to Strong as they approached.

[Strong Hooves 289]

They entered the inn. It was empty today, no customers. The small wall of keys behind a front desk showed nopony had rented a room yet. "Here you are then. This place ring any bells?" he asked Rose. The room, despite the gloom outside, held a wide range of beautiful flora. The wallpaper was of roses, which Strong decided was her favorite flower. He went and placed a hoof full of bits on the desk, "I'm just staying a night. This should cover it" he told her.

[Finesthour 7,284]

Rose's head spun around the room, taking in the sight of "her" Inn. She sadly said as her head stopped,

"Nothing..."

She walked over to the counter where he placed the bits and said,

"Umm... what is that?"

[Strong Hooves 289]

Strong gave an 'are you kidding me' look, then face hoofed. "These are bits... money... we use them to buy things. Then, if we have no bits, ponies either sell or trade things to get what they need. Most of the time that is." he said to her. "Anything else before I go to sleep?" he asked dryly.

[Finesthour 7,284]

Rose looked down to the floor and sighed softly. She quietly said,

"I'm sorry I'm being annoying as such... I.. I really don't know what has happened to me..."

She then looked up straight into his eyes, and she was smiling.

"But thank you for saving my life, and possibly my... other places. I really owe you everything..."

She turned her head back to the bits on the table.

"Keep them, you're going to need them elsewhere."

[Strong Hooves 289]

Strongs stern gaze softened as she spoke, he shouldn't be rude to a mare who had been assaulted and almost raped. He sighed again and looked back, "Hey, no problem. I wouldn't let that happen to anypony. And thank you" he said in a calmer tone as he put away his bits. He yawned, "Well... It's late. We should get some sleep. Maybe you will remember a few things when you wake up." he said as he went upstairs. He pointed her in the direction of her own room, bid her goodnight, then went to his own room. He lay there for a while, not knowing if he could muster the will to just leave her here in the condition she was in.

[Finesthour 7,284]

The first rays of light hit the eyelids of Rose. The bright light caused her eyes to flutter open, her vision in a daze. She stretched outward with her hooves and quietly sqeaked as she did so, delighted the crick in her back from the day before had left. It took her a few moments, but she finally remembered what had happened the day before, and the stallion that had saved him. What was his name again. It was... S-Strong Hooves! She needed to go talk to him again.. But she did not know why. She jumped out of her bed and opened her door, and started to search for him.

[Strong Hooves 289]

Strong woke to the light hitting his face. He looked at the sun, allowing a small smile to escape. This was one of the very few times he could do so, he sometimes pretended there was no apocalypse, that everything was peaceful and normal. His smile faded as he rolled out of bed, as much as he wished it were so, it wasn't going to happen. He stretched and put on his battle saddle, making sure the safety was on before leaving his room.