open 'Neath the Chestnut Tree (Mature)

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

Ooc: Lol. XD

 

@,

 

"Jinx likes to torture rather than kill, now," Jay said in a quiet voice. "That's somehow worse. Anyway, I bought the potion at a store in town. It cost eight bits but it was worth it. I'll show you where to buy one for yourself. It doesn't last forever, but even just having a break from Jinx for a few days is worth the money."

[sunne 656]

@@Pripyat Pony, 

"Eh, well Fallen does like to torture every once in a while, but she mostly just likes the sight and smell of blood and seeing the life drain out of the victim's eyes," Broken said. "i don't doubt that even a small break would be nice. Anyway, do you know what happened here? it woke me up.'

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@,

 

Jay sighed. "I don't know," she said. "I never saw it. I just came galloping over here cuz I didn't want to get the blame for whatever it is that happened. You see, Jay likes to use dark magic to destroy buildings sometimes, and I've had to skip town before so I wouldn't get punished. I've only just settled down here and I don't want to leave just yet."

[HigurSan 195]

@, @@Pripyat Pony, @, @, @,

((Back to the Storyline, now that y'all have interacted for a little bit.))

The guards were frazzled by the recent events. Citizens from all over the city had come to see what was going on. It wouldn't be good for them to see the scene inside the museum. They'd be sure to panic and nothing good could come of that. A Sergeant approached the group containing the characters and spoke up in a magically magnified voice. "Citizens of Germaneigh," he started in a tired but authoritative voice. "There has been an accident inside the City Hall Museum. We now request that you please return to your homes. Please report any strange occurences in the morning so that we can work everything out in an orderly fashion. Chancellor Steeleye will make an announcement to update you on what is happening around noon tomorrow. Once again, please return to your homes until morning."

 

A number of guards were herding other citizens away from the City Hall, but for the moment the character group went unmolested. Soon enough more guards were arriving along with medics. Though they were trying to hide the sight from the citizens, a number of severely injured unicorns were being rushed out of the City Hall to the hospital. One had a length of metal longer than he was spearing him through the chest. The rest were in various states of unconciousness and moaning in pain, which the medics tried to muffle.

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

On hearing the announcement, Jay gave a heavy sigh. "Return to your homes, they say," she muttered. "I have no home. I sleep in the park, beneath the trees. They are kinder to me than anypony has been, save for you in the group, which I thank you for. But I wonder where any of us will be tomorrow?"

[MelancholicMemory 2,022]

@, @@Pripyat Pony, @, @, @,

((Back to the Storyline, now that y'all have interacted for a little bit.))

The guards were frazzled by the recent events. Citizens from all over the city had come to see what was going on. It wouldn't be good for them to see the scene inside the museum. They'd be sure to panic and nothing good could come of that. A Sergeant approached the group containing the characters and spoke up in a magically magnified voice. "Citizens of Germaneigh," he started in a tired but authoritative voice. "There has been an accident inside the City Hall Museum. We now request that you please return to your homes. Please report any strange occurences in the morning so that we can work everything out in an orderly fashion. Chancellor Steeleye will make an announcement to update you on what is happening around noon tomorrow. Once again, please return to your homes until morning."

 

A number of guards were herding other citizens away from the City Hall, but for the moment the character group went unmolested. Soon enough more guards were arriving along with medics. Though they were trying to hide the sight from the citizens, a number of severely injured unicorns were being rushed out of the City Hall to the hospital. One had a length of metal longer than he was spearing him through the chest. The rest were in various states of unconciousness and moaning in pain, which the medics tried to muffle.

Vesper heard the announcement and saw all of the angry looking or injured ponies, which caused him to panic. He looked around, exhasperated and shocked. He was breathing quickly and shaking in fear. He clung close to Forest. "H-help...n-no...d-don't let them hurt me..."

[sunne 656]

@@Pripyat Pony, 

Broken nodded at Jay's words.

"I know what that's like," she replied. "Since Fallen came i haven't had a home. She's the reason my wings are in these braces, but since they've healed, I've been making burrows out of clouds to sleep in. Good way to hide after regaining control of my body after Fallen's taken over and gone on a rampage, because police ponies typically don't think to look in the clouds. "

[Miss Light Diamond 2,801]

@,

 

Forest raised an eyebrow before turning around. "M'home is far outside the city...and that mist is there for a reason...I doubt I'll be goin' anywhere. Stop yer whimperin' Vesper, yer gonna be fine." He said, walking down the street and gesturing for Vesper to follow him. "I'm sleepin' in me shop." He mumbled.

[MelancholicMemory 2,022]

@,

 

Forest raised an eyebrow before turning around. "M'home is far outside the city...and that mist is there for a reason...I doubt I'll be goin' anywhere. Stop yer whimperin' Vesper, yer gonna be fine." He said, walking down the street and gesturing for Vesper to follow him. "I'm sleepin' in me shop." He mumbled.

"C-can I stay there too? I...I don't want to be hurt..." He continued to look around nervously, afraid something was coming for him to get him. He followed closely behind Forest for safety. He continued to shake and whimper. He looked momentarily back at the mares that were with them. They both scared him...

[Miss Light Diamond 2,801]

@,

 

Forest shrugged. "Suppose y'could...don't ya already have someplace t'stay? Yer welcome to stay with me but...if y'already have some place why don't ya just go there? Either way...you'll be sleepin' on the floor or an unfinished bed frame...because those are the closest things I got to beds..." He said, turning a corner to continue walking in the direction of his shop.

[MelancholicMemory 2,022]

@,

 

Forest shrugged. "Suppose y'could...don't ya already have someplace t'stay? Yer welcome to stay with me but...if y'already have some place why don't ya just go there? Either way...you'll be sleepin' on the floor or an unfinished bed frame...because those are the closest things I got to beds..." He said, turning a corner to continue walking in the direction of his shop.

"O-okay...scared to go home...long way...F-forest protect Vesper..." He walked behind Forest, shaking and looking about nervously, afraid that somepony or something would jump out to hurt him. Forest was his first friend, and he would cling to him for protection.

[HigurSan 195]

((A timeskip would, indeed, be opportune at this point in time.))

The morning's light would bring no solace to the ponies of Germaneigh. While not exactly a 'tropical' location, as many hills and mountains sported plentiful snowfall year round, a sheer wind blowing in from the north seemed determined to freeze everypony to death. It was almost like it was alive, managing to find a way through even the most tightly closed windows and doors. Fireplaces would provide only so much relief, as the flames seemed to find it hard to keep burning in the thin air. The sky that was visible over the impenetrable wall of fog was an icy blue, the sun shining with a deathly white sheen. For now however, things would not be too bad, other than the chill.

 

Life still would be able to go on, other than travel to and from the outside world. Chancellor Steeleye, however, was rather concerned by their situation. Germaniegh was certainly not reliant upon foreign nations in order to survive. Grains were a bit tough to grow, but many other edible berries and root crops were fairly common. They wouldn't be running out of wood or iron any time soon. Food, shelter, and protection, three essentials to life. What he -was- concerned about was disease. A few diseases and plagues had occasionally entered Germaneigh over the centuries, nothing major. However, then they had access to the apothecaries and medicine of Canterlot and Equestria as a whole. Yes, Germaneigh had its own mid-wives and medical staff, but as things stood many ingredients critical to curing some of the worst diseases in the world could not be found or grown in Germaneigh. He'd actually been working on plans for a greenhouse civil works project to solve that issue, but it seemed to be too late now.

 

As well... what if something else happened? This fog and last night's disaster were already completely unexpected. There was no telling what else might make itself known. They would have nowhere to go and no support to draw upon should things become dire. Trapped and alone, at home, but still cornered none the less. This was on his mind as he bundled up a little and made his way to the City Square to make his announcements. He did not possess proper words to explain properly what everypony was going to ask: "What's happening?" But he still had to try regardless. Mounting the hastily erected podium, he waited until everypony had quieted down. Magnifying his voice for benefit of those near the back of the crowd, he spoke.

 

"I'll try to keep this short and true to what I know," he said. "Last night a horrendous accident, one right now assumed to be of magical origin, occurred in the City Hall Industrial Museum. The massive gyroscope, often called the 'Whirl Clock' by a few, suffered some manner of critical failure. To put it simply, it exploded. The fifteen rings fell from their positions and caused much damage to both life and property. Whats more, the orb at the middle of the Clock fractured and detonated, spewing forth the... fog which you can now see surrounding us on all sides, albeit a bit far away from our current position. In the process of doing so, many staff and interns from the Germaneigh Mage's Society were either critically injured or killed by the debris. Among their number was Head Wizard Herbfrond, who died... rather painfully. Now, the most likely questions you are going to ask me are: Why or how did this happen? Can we do anything about it? When can things return to normal."

 

"The current answers are: We do not know, but are investigating; Please do not panic and go about your business best you can; and we do not know. Nothing like this has happened in our history, or any other history for that matter. As such, if you know anything, please tell us. However, I've already heard theories relating to the Historical significance of this event. If you are going to present such theories, we will listen. But please make sure you have all your facts straight. The more concrete facts we know, the easier this will be. Also, all shop owners that deal in herbs, medicine, or anything relating the two professions mentioned before are requested to immediately come to my office for an emergency meeting. I've got to go now, but for Celestia's sake, -DO NOT- go near the fog. There have been enough deaths already. Ponies going missing can only make things worse."

[MelancholicMemory 2,022]

Vesper woke up early, sticking his cloaked head out the window and listening to Steeleye's announcement. "Fog..." He sneaked outside and headed towards home, only to find that the entire area was covered in the eerie fog. "No! Chicken!" He was worried about his chickens. Would the fog kill them? What would they do if he couldn't go feed them? What would he eat without his chickens? He decided to push these questions out of his head and head back to Forest's shop. He sat down near where Forest was still asleep with a sigh.

 

@,

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

Jay awoke with a shiver from her bed under the trees in the park. She had pulled grass and leaves around her, but she still was freezing cold. She put on her cloak which helped a little, and got up, stretching the stiffness from her joints. Jay wondered if she would see anypony she'd met the day before. She began to walk to the city centre, hoping that she could find a meal someplace. As for what was going on, she didn't really care. All it meant was that she was stuck here, and the potion wouldn't last forever, so sooner or later she would be turned on by the city ponies.

[sunne 656]

Broken Cloud woke up and poked her head out of the cloud. She and Fallen both heard the Chancellor talk, as the cloud-bed was just above the area. 

"Damn... that's a lot of lives-"

Broken stared into nothing, perplexed. Since when did she care? This was Fallen. Psychotic, murderous Fallen. 

"-wish I'd thought of doing that."

Broken rolled her eyes as she got up and flew away.

"Don't go in the fog huh...Hmm..."

Don't even think about it.

"What?" Fallen asked defensively, though Broken knew that if she were in front of her, she would be smirking.

I know you're thinking about using the fog to your advantage the next time you take over.

"Maybe, maybe not. You seem to forget, I'm the one who can hear your thoughts, not vice versa."

Yes, but after over ten years of you being in my head, I know you well enough to know when you're thinking about killing ponies.

"Well, whatever."

[Senor Citizen 516]

Germaneigh's changed.

 

I mean, I knew that already. But it really starts to hit me as I'm sitting at a table at what used to be my favourite café, watching a load of unicorns getting carted off on stretchers, and from the look of it they'll be headed to the morgue before the hospital. Germaneigh's not that nice of a place any more. I'm going to find out why.

[Miss Light Diamond 2,801]

Vesper woke up early, sticking his cloaked head out the window and listening to Steeleye's announcement. "Fog..." He sneaked outside and headed towards home, only to find that the entire area was covered in the eerie fog. "No! Chicken!" He was worried about his chickens. Would the fog kill them? What would they do if he couldn't go feed them? What would he eat without his chickens? He decided to push these questions out of his head and head back to Forest's shop. He sat down near where Forest was still asleep with a sigh.

 

@,

 

Forest awoke to the sound of the mayor outside. He grunted and quickly sat up. "Ughhh...the buck happened? Oh...Vesper. Hiya doin'?" He mumbled, stretching and looking out the front of his shop. "What's goin' on with the mayor?" He asked.

 

 

 

 

Meeeeaaaanwhile, outside the city.

A tall dark figure stood staring at the wall of mist. It's head was tilted to the side and it's large mouth full of sharp teeth was in a big grin.

It's red eyes darted around the mist before it turned into a large puff of smoke and flew through.

Thing exited on the inside of the wall of mist and flew towards the city, diving into the first sewer drain it found.

It had been traveling for three days...it sensed the evil that was to happen in this city soon enough...and it couldn't wait to be a part of it...it just needed to find a nice host for its body.

 

It soared through the sewers before it went back up to the streets, stopping and becoming its natural form...which was quite larger than the average stallion. Its coat was an unnatural sleek black. It's eyes were blood red and...well, it appeared not to have a mouth...it did of course.

Followed by a dark smoke, it slowly walked deeper into the alley.

[MelancholicMemory 2,022]

 

 

Forest awoke to the sound of the mayor outside. He grunted and quickly sat up. "Ughhh...the buck happened? Oh...Vesper. Hiya doin'?" He mumbled, stretching and looking out the front of his shop. "What's goin' on with the mayor?" He asked.

"H-he talked...that stallion...he talked about the fog...i-it kills...W-what will I do? M-my chickens will die!" Vesper was very visibly upset, throwing his forehooves up into the air as he said the word 'die'.  "H-how go home? Scared!" He was panicking, terrified. This was his first time into town and it ended up like this.

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

Jay wandered thru the town, as was her habit, but somehow everything had changed. The other ponies were more fearful and kept themselves to themselves. She could sense deep within that Jinx would wake up soon and she was sorry. She didn't have enough bits to buy another potion yet, so she would have to allow Jinx to come to the fore, despite the misery it would cause her.

[sunne 656]

Sweet Symphony woke up in a daze, but heard the mayor speak and processed it fine. She sat up and slid off the park bench she was on. She had come into town late last night, any and all hotels had been closed.

She stretched, yawning and looking around. She saw the fog. it was thick and murky, not to mention very eerie. Sweet couldn't even start to imagine what would haunt her vision if she went in there. Grabbing her saddlebag, she put it on and set off down the street.

The light blue Earth Pony's head was free of voices, for now. But, she did see something that she had to make herself believe was a hallucination.

She had seen a large, black stallion with blood red eyes and what seemed to be a lack of a mouth pass by, a trail of thick, dark smoke trailing after it. She put a hoof to her head and shook it, trying to pass it off as one of her more unsettling and creepy hallucinations, and made herself keep walking.

[Miss Light Diamond 2,801]

"H-he talked...that stallion...he talked about the fog...i-it kills...W-what will I do? M-my chickens will die!" Vesper was very visibly upset, throwing his forehooves up into the air as he said the word 'die'.  "H-how go home? Scared!" He was panicking, terrified. This was his first time into town and it ended up like this.

 

Forest shrugged. "I have no idea, Vesper. I cant go home either. Fer now we'll just have t'stay here I suppose." He said, rubbing his eyes and standing up.

He yawned before trotting over to the wood stove to make some breakfast.

 

 

Thing stood at the end of the alleyway, staring at the street in front of it.

Nervous ponies ran by every now and then but apart from that, nothing seemed to happen...none of them noticed Thing.

A mare...about the age of 20 to 25 with a dark purple mane and a pink coat walked by the alley...sadly, she noticed Thing who grabbed her and pulled her into the alley before she could make a sound.

Thing stared down at her before its mouth appeared...it was large enough to eat an entire pony Whole with rows of sharp teeth.

The mare struggled but there was no point, Thing bit into her neck and held a hoof over her mouth as a rather disgusting sucking noise echoed around the alley.

A moment later...the mare was left wide eyed...and empty. All that was left was skin and bone. Thing wiped the blood from where it's mouth was a moment ago...all that was left was a blank snout.

It turned into the black smoke and entered the mare's hollow body through her mouth...a moment later, the mares eye's turned blood red and a grin spread across her face.

She got to her hooves and casually trotted out of the alley. She looked...rather skinny, but apart from that, she looked totally normal.

[Senor Citizen 516]

Some time's passed. I'd paid for the coffee (it was bad), taken a short walk to the house and grabbed my spotter's scope and the rifle. I'm not stupid, so I put the separate parts in a trombone case before I went to the clock tower and started looking around for anything odd. Couple of muggings, something with a thrift store but nothing bad.

 

Then I saw the thing.

 

Thing's the best word I can use to describe it. Wasn't any species of anything that I could recall.

 

Oh, and it eats ponies.

Edited August 16, 2013 by Monsieur Buttmad

[TheImaginaryAlicorn 147]

Blossom woke up many times in the night, nightmares plaguing her sleep, before finally giving up and crawling out of bed at 8:00. She was scared, really scared - much more than she wanted to believe. The mysterious fog was still there (not like she had really expected it to go away), and who knew what it was, what it would do, how long it would last? What if life would never be normal again?

 

She tried to shove all of these thoughts out of her head as she went through her usual routine of readying herself for the day. She wondered if there would still be school; not many parents would want to let their kids out in circumstances like these. Soon Blossom heard the Chancellor's speech, as she lived near the center of town and town hall, where the speech emanated from, and the Chancellor told everypony to carry on as usual. Okay, she thought, there is school. I wonder how many ponies will show? Oh, the students will be so nervous... She trotted out the door and to the school to do her job - to teach.

[MelancholicMemory 2,022]

 

 

Forest shrugged. "I have no idea, Vesper. I cant go home either. Fer now we'll just have t'stay here I suppose." He said, rubbing his eyes and standing up. He yawned before trotting over to the wood stove to make some breakfast.

Vesper paced back and forth, awkwardly shuffling his hooves. He wasn't sure what to do. Should he stay? Should he leave and explore town? Should he try to get home? He was so confused and frustrated. He finally walked over to Forest, curious what he was doing.

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

Jay was walking past a pony with a dark purple mane and a pink coat when it happened. She stopped short and wailed aloud as she physically felt Jinx wake up. Then, Jinx spoke, crossly, thru her mouth. Jay answered, not caring what any pony thought.

 

"Why did you do that?" Jinx said. "You ought to know better. I'm feeling a bit crazy after being locked up so long, like I want to destroy something... or somepony."

 

"Jinx, you mustn't! I can't flee this city, like I did every other time!" Jay said, desperately. "You'll get us in trouble again!"

 

"Trouble, smouble," Jinx sneered. "I glory in destruction, as you well know."

 

In despair, Jay broke into a gallop.