private The Canterlot Caravan

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@@Durandal

 

Nodding carefully at her reaction, Bardic turned his attention to the more recent tale.

 

"I know little of what happened actually. A good friend of mine from here, he offered to bring me to experience this land for myself: there is a limit to the knowledge that may be learned from the written word."

 

Offered might have been an incorrect word: Red had insisted that Bardic travel more for some time.

 

"We were to visit Canterlot where he had business to attend. That is the last I recall before waking in the tide near where we met." He smiled despite himself.

 

"An unexpected occurance, but not a regrettable one as of yet. What of yourself? It would be incorrect to say that I am not curious."

Edited August 14, 2013 by Cinderscribe

[Durandal 623]

Liberta internally groaned. It was bound to happen eventually, no matter how much she had hoped it would be avoided. Alright Liberta, you know the drill.

 

"M-Me? Oh, there's not much to say, really. Something of a wandering doctor - never seem to be able to settle down!" She said, chuckling awkwardly at the explanation.

 

"I had recently been offered a position at a medical school in Canterlot - I have a friend who knows a friend who works at the school, so he was able to get in a few words for me." Finishing, she added a warm smile for emphasis.

 

Liberta liked this stallion. He was not overbearing like Lightning, and actually allowed emotions through, unlike Driftwood. He was the sort of warm, friendly balance changelings would enjoy, if they actually took the time to see past the Hive's propaganda and get to know a pony. Grimacing, she swallowed back those memories. All it would do is anger her again, and in the company of others, someone was bound to notice.

Edited August 15, 2013 by Durandal

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@@Durandal

 

"That is good to know: I fear my knowledge of medicine is quite limited." Bardic said with a small frown: he regretted that such an important skill had always eluded him, but it was something that rather required experience over theory.

 

"It has been most pleasant to speak with you, Soothing Serum. I fear that we should prepare to break camp however. Our friend seems anxious to move on. Perhaps we could speak more later?"

 

Truth be told, he still had hundreds of questions: left to ask - not least of all that might lead to his discovery of whatever strange attribute it was that he couldn't quite place. That could wait for another time though.

 

@@Frosty V

@

@

@@Spiritual Nightmare

@@Moonlight Fire

 

"Come now, ensure we are prepared and let us continue onwards." He announced.

 

"A new morning light, is shining down on you after the night

Do not mourn, darkness is gone, greet the dawn..."

Edited August 14, 2013 by Cinderscribe

[Frosty V 309]

Jaeger finished packing up his things into his saddle bags and began to walk "Let's just hurry and get out of this forest before I have another panic attack and accedintaly stick s knife in someponies head." he mumbled under his breath as he made sure his knifes were down far in his bags so he couldn't reach them easily.

[Wheatley1 32]

Whiterunner didn't really had anything to pack, he remembered when he was running from that thing that was chasing him, he dropped his bag to travel lightly and get some more speed, all he had left was one water bottle and that apple he picked up earlier.

 

"Well, i'm pretty much done , lets get out of this forest"

[TotalNeon 72]

Driftwood had been watching how the other ponies behaved while they talked. Bardic and Serum were having a conversation about Saddle Arabia, it seemed to be an interesting talk, but what Driftwood found more interesting was the way it was being exchanged.

Particularly, he noticed that Soothing Serum was a little bit... odd. It was a collection of little things rather than one big, foreboding feeling, but something about her didn't seem right, the more he observed her, the more he felt uneasy.

Something to do with the way she talked, like she was being interrogated, she was on edge. There were lots of things that could provoke such a response, but for now, he decided just to keep a close eye on her. No doubt if she was hiding something, it would be brought out in time if it was important to the caravan.

 

"Alright everypony, let's go." he set off walking into the forest, and the caravan followed, slowly but surely getting closer to their destination.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

"Indeed, I know not of the distance, yet suspect that our journey may just be beginning." Bardic smiled: Red had always talked about his adventures and such in this land - perhaps his exaggerations were not as great as Bardic had believed.

 

@@Frosty V

@

 

"My friends, I am a teller of stories yet feel at a disadvantage, perhaps I could know more of yourselves sometime while we travel?"

 

Every story carried some grain of information which would be useful, he believed. Especially those regarding the ponies he would be traveling with.

 

"For now though, let us discover what may be ahead." He smiled.

 

@@Durandal

 

"After you, Zahrah." He said politely, bowing before Soothing Serum.

[Moonlight Fire 20]

Moonlight strapped her pack onto her aching back, and followed after Driftwood. She observed the sunlight, feeling happier than before. Then she remembered their destination: the river. She stopped in her tracks, then quickly continued trotting, hoping nopony had noticed.

[TotalNeon 72]

The caravan inched along the long road to Canterlot, their journey leading them still through the forest. They remained silent for a good while and eventually reached the River in the Woods.

 

The trees in this area were fewer, but taller, and bore no fruit. Before the entourage of ponies lay a raging, rapid river, pouring relentlessly over jagged rocks and parts of trees that stuck out. The river was rather wide, not small enough to brave crossing by swimming, and would surely sweep anypony who stepped in away. This was quite a dilemma, for no bridge was in sight.

 

Driftwood stood motionless by the rushing waters, contemplating a way across. Studying the water, he saw something that looked like smooth, rounded stones that did not give in to the river, they stayed in one place. They were circular and quite tall, out of the way of the water's reach, and were all identical in shape and size, only large enough for one pony to stand on at a time, and with proper aim, could be jumped from one to another.

 

"I don't like this." Driftwood said, "can anypony see any other way across?"

[Frosty V 309]

Jaeger looked around and saw a half dead tree in the opposite bank of the river. "I could try to buck that tree over and we could use it as some kind of bridge, I guess?" he said as he looked at the tree again and then at his knife "It might have to be cut down." he thought

[Durandal 623]

Liberta had again found herself focusing on the exchanges around her. Though muffled by the fact most were too tired to keep up much conversation, there was enough there to sense, if she focused on them. Eventually, she came to the conclusion there was some order to it all - it wasn't just a jumble of emotions floating about, but a symphony of color.

 

Like a heartbeat, emotion was pumped from one pony to another. However, each emotion had its own beat, and flowed at different rates. Excitement beat like a Hummingbird's wings, the action resulting in the emotion zig-zagging towards its host. Pleasure, like a smooth breeze. It really was wondrous. It was a pity the Hive was so controlled - many of her kin, including herself, probably would have enjoyed studying emotion. It was all so mysterious - why did Changelings sense emotion? How? Why do ponies have such a monopoly over it? She supposed it was just a number of life's questions.

 

Suddenly, she sensed an emotion. It's long, foreboding wave shot out towards the rest of the group, who went static. It was caution. Whatever they were saying was muffled by her concentration, however the emotion told her enough. She snapped open her eyes, suddenly wary of where she was heading.

 

Unfortunately, she was too late. Taking one step too many, her hoof fell into the river, taking her with it. The river responded by throwing her forwards, slinging her into the river like a ragdoll. Struggling against the current, she broke the surface, flailing her arms in a vain attempt to gain a hold on the shore.

 

Her wings wouldn't help here, and her magic was too mediocre to make much of a difference. She was at the mercy of the current, so she did what any pony would do in such a situation - scream for help. Though she understood help was on the way, it was an instinct, one she had no real control over. Hopefully it didn't bother the others. Or alert something else entirely.

[Moonlight Fire 20]

Liberta had again found herself focusing on the exchanges around her. Though muffled by the fact most were too tired to keep up much conversation, there was enough there to sense, if she focused on them. Eventually, she came to the conclusion there was some order to it all - it wasn't just a jumble of emotions floating about, but a symphony of color.

 

Like a heartbeat, emotion was pumped from one pony to another. However, each emotion had its own beat, and flowed at different rates. Excitement beat like a Hummingbird's wings, the action resulting in the emotion zig-zagging towards its host. Pleasure, like a smooth breeze. It really was wondrous. It was a pity the Hive was so controlled - many of her kin, including herself, probably would have enjoyed studying emotion. It was all so mysterious - why did Changelings sense emotion? How? Why do ponies have such a monopoly over it? She supposed it was just a number of life's questions.

 

Suddenly, she sensed an emotion. It's long, foreboding wave shot out towards the rest of the group, who went static. It was caution. Whatever they were saying was muffled by her concentration, however the emotion told her enough. She snapped open her eyes, suddenly wary of where she was heading.

 

Unfortunately, she was too late. Taking one step too many, her hoof fell into the river, taking her with it. The river responded by throwing her forwards, slinging her into the river like a ragdoll. Struggling against the current, she broke the surface, flailing her arms in a vain attempt to gain a hold on the shore.

 

Her wings wouldn't help here, and her magic was too mediocre to make much of a difference. She was at the mercy of the current, so she did what any pony would do in such a situation - scream for help. Though she understood help was on the way, it was an instinct, one she had no real control over. Hopefully it didn't bother the others. Or alert something else entirely.

Moonlight Fire heard a cry somewhere in the river. Turning her head, she saw Soothing Serum flailing in the strong current. "Hold on!" she shouted, trying to use her magic to pick Soothing up. Moonlight began to panic, realizing even her advanced magic wasn't strong enough. "I-I'm coming!" she called, dipping a hoof into the current, before quickly drawing it back. An overwhelming flashback came to her.

 

Moonlight was drowning, water filling her lungs, suffocating her. She couldn't move, couldn't do anything but slowly sink.."No!" the mare cried, shaking her head. She submerged herself into the cold water, and began to paddle toward Soothing Serum. "Almost..there.." Moonlight choked, gradually getting closer. "Grab..my..hoove," she gurgled, stretching her arm to the pony.

[Frosty V 309]

Moonlight Fire heard a cry somewhere in the river. Turning her head, she saw Soothing Serum flailing in the strong current. "Hold on!" she shouted, trying to use her magic to pick Soothing up. Moonlight began to panic, realizing even her advanced magic wasn't strong enough. "I-I'm coming!" she called, dipping a hoof into the current, before quickly drawing it back. An overwhelming flashback came to her.

 

Moonlight was drowning, water filling her lungs, suffocating her. She couldn't move, couldn't do anything but slowly sink.."No!" the mare cried, shaking her head. She submerged herself into the cold water, and began to paddle toward Soothing Serum. "Almost..there.." Moonlight choked, gradually getting closer. "Grab..my..hoove," she gurgled, stretching her arm to the pony.

Jaeger was studying the tree to find a good fulcrum point when he heard a scream and turned to see two ponies floating down the river. "Oh Celestia!" he said frantically as he jetted into the air and flew to the ponies position. He flew a lite past them and waited for them to float to him so he could grab them and pull them to the bank. "I've got you down here!" he yelled to them as he waited.

[TotalNeon 72]

@@Frosty V, @@Moonlight Fire, @@Durandal,

 

Driftwood ran after Jaeger, who was flying towards the distressed ponies in the rushing river. He skidded to a stop and stood by the bank when Jeager flew just ahead of them. Driftwood's cart full of shells still attached, some of them spilled out as he suddenly stopped. The ponies were tossed mercilessly in the waters, Moonlight's hoof outstretched to Soothing Serum.

 

"Hold on!" Driftwood called, he looked around, a little panicked, trying to find anything he could use. He opened his knapsack, wrapped neatly in a roll was his fleece blanket he'd brought along. It was large, big enough to catch the ponies in if he worked with the other pegasus. "Jaeger! Grab this!" He tossed one end of the blanket to Jaeger and kept one part between his teeth. If Jeager complied, then they could catch the ponies in the blanket as the water sped them towards the pegasi.

Edited August 23, 2013 by TotalNeon

[Frosty V 309]

 

@TotalNeon @Moonlight Fire @Durandal

 

Jaeger caught his end of the blanket. "Got it!" he yelled back as he got his end ready, yelling at the other ponies. "Aim yourselfs so you hit this blanket!." he screamed at the two ponies that were still floating down the river.

Edited August 23, 2013 by Frosty V

[Moonlight Fire 20]

Moonlight spat out water, and briskly aimed her and Soothing Serum at the blanket. The water surged against het suddenly, causing her to slam her side into a rock. The mare felt an overwhelimg sense of pain, and felt another flashback.

 

She was in another river, floating to the bottom, tge currents forcing her down until she hit the bottom...

 

The unicorn forced herself to snap out of it as she paddled to where Jaegur and Driftwood were.

[TotalNeon 72]

Driftwood braced himself, clenching the blanket in his teeth and prepared to catch the ponies. They were thrown into the mock net harshly by the river, Driftwood felt a bead of sweat form on his brow, the ponies weight was a little unexpected and he nearly let go of the blanket. He started to pull the blanket towards the bank, keeping an eye on his companions and making sure not to drop it.

[Moonlight Fire 20]

As Moonlight felt her and Soothing fall into the blanket, the unicorn felt dazed, coughing up water. She fought to stat concious as Driftwood and Jaegur slowly pulled them to the bank. I should've let some other pony take care of this, look at all the trouble I've caused, Moonlight thought grimly.

[Durandal 623]

By the time Liberta had coughed up the last of the water, she realized she was no longer being carried away by the current. Shaking violently, she struggled to form a coherent sentence.

 

Oh, she'd done it now. She had just walked into a river because she was too focused on their emotions! They were bound to know now! They were going to ask her why she wasn't paying attention, and then they would see through her lie, and then they would figure out what she really was! She wanted to run, but some part of her for whatever reason didn't listen, instead staying firmly rooted to the spot she was currently in. This was bad! Another pony had fallen in after her, the river could have killed them both! Driftwood was going to have her head for this!

 

"I- Oh- Please- I'm sorry!- I wasn't paying attention and- oh please forgive me!- Please don't-"

[Moonlight Fire 20]

Moonlight gingerly pawed at the gaping wound on her side, still coughing river water. The event bad terrified her, and it took all of her will power to stop shaking. "Are you alright?" Moonlight asked, interrupting Soothing Serums's incoherent stuttering.

[Frosty V 309]

@Moonlight Fire @Durandal

 

Jaeger took a breather, not realizing how heavy these ponies were. He looked at the two mares and shook his head. "You are both suffering from shock, we need to get you warm fast." he said as he turned his gaze to Moonlight and examined her wound. "We need to get that patched up...now." he said seriously

[TotalNeon 72]

@@Durandal, @@Moonlight Fire, @@Frosty V,

 

"You should have been paying attention." Driftwood stated harshly to Soothing. "Are you both alright...?" He softened his tone a little, remembering that these two had just been on the edge of death. He spotted Moonlight's huge wound and nodded at Jaeger's suggestion of getting it bound fast. "Moonlight, you're good with medicine right? What kinds of herb would be good for that wound you have?" he motioned towards it with his hoof. He started to wring out the blanket with his foreleg and teeth, but it wasn't dry enough for the ponies to keep warm in it. "Could somepony spare a blanket for these two? They need to get warm before they catch something." He turned his head away and muttered "we've barely started and we've already had two nearly dead..."

 

Driftwood looked over at the river again, remembering the stones up where Soothing had fallen in. He recalled that they still needed a way over the river... somepony had suggested felling a tree on the other side, perhaps there were other ways across, too?

[Moonlight Fire 20]

Moonlight coughed, motioning towards her pack a few feet away. "You should find a blue packet in there. It should be filled with long, dark leaves. Those w-will help us get through the shock," she said, sputtering. "There should also be some bandages and a salve. A-apply those," the mare said, breathing heavily. She could normally perform a healing spell, but in her current condition, that would be impossible.

[Frosty V 309]

Jaeger followed the directions and got the blue packet from Moonlights saddle bags and brought it over. He pulled out the leafs and the bandages with the salve and layed them side by side. He first applied the bandages and salve and then gave her the leaves. "Come on stay with me." he said patting Moonlight on the cheek making sure she didn't black out from the shock before she could be treated.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Frosty V

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

"I think that we can all learn from this event."

 

Bardic shook his head, a frown on his face as he looked at the group. He wasn't proud of his lack of action.

 

"Please do not hold my inactivity against me, I would only have hindered you further I fear..."

 

He spoke truthfully: of course, he knew the theory, but had never been anything remotely close to a strong swimmer.