private City of Outcasts

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

Diego woke up the following morning slumped accross the bar. He often woke up that way, so it was no surprise to him. He sat up and shook his head; there was the usual hangover which came from drinking several tankards of strong cider, but he ignored it. Diego decided to go out for a walk to clear his head.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@@Pripyat Pony,

 

When Asteron returned to the bar that morning, he was hardly surprised to see the chaos pony from the night before still there, presumably having slept there. At least it was better than the idiots who were still passed out on the floor after the previous night's brawl. The pony left at about the same time that Asteron headed down from his appartment over the bar. At least he was considerate enough not to stay too long after he woke up. The minotaur sighed as he began preparing to open for the day.

 

---

 

Scurry was wandering around town aimlessly as he often did to pass the time until the bar opened and he actually had something to do. He wasn't really paying attention to where he was going, and he ended up bumping into a unicorn stallion he didn't recognize. "Oh... um, sorry about that."

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Alex Kennedy, Diego wasn't entirely awake, which was good for the stranger who bumped into him: Diego would have blasted Scurry with chaos magic otherwise. As it was, he stumbled and just in the nick of time managed to stop himself from falling. Then he looked straight at the stranger... or as straight as he could manage. "And you are?" he asked.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@@Pripyat Pony,

 

Scurry gave the pony a confused look. "Scurry. Scurry Ditch. I live in the abandoned mines outside of town. Sometimes I find gems there, or other things that I can sell for money. But who are you? Why does a normal pony live in Free Haven? It's not safe here for ponies. Your kind aren't very popular in this city." Scurry hadn't meant to make this seem like a threat, but one could be forgiven for seeing it that way, especially considering it came from the mouth of a hulking diamond dog who was still covered in cuts and bruises from the last night's brawl.

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Alex Kennedy,

 

"I'm not very popular back in Equestria, either," Diego replied, dryly. "In fact, I was exiled from Equestria due to my talent, which is chaos magic. Apparently, it makes ponies uncomfortable and panicky to be around a pony who practices chaos magic cuz it reminds them of the chaos god Discord. So, I came here. While it's true that I resent being forced to live in a place such as this, with its high taxation and difficulty in making a living, there's not a whole lot of choice for me right now."

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@@Pripyat Pony,

 

Scurry sighed. "Yes. Things in the city are bad. We live here because we are forced to, but there are too many of us. It can't stay like this. We need to find somewhere else. But there is nowhere else for us to go. A difficult problem, and a very bad one if we don't solve it quickly." 

Edited August 18, 2013 by Alex Kennedy

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Alex Kennedy,

 

"I'm not so sure that there is anyplace else for us to go, tho," Diego replied, looking troubled. "Equestria covers a lot of territory, and the kingdoms of the griffons and changelings would be out of bounds for a large community such as ours to move in on. The only chance, and a slim one at that, is to somehow persuade the Equestrians to accept us. I don't really see that happening, but a slim chance is better than none."

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@@Pripyat Pony, 

 

Scurry shook his head. "They might accept you, but they'd never accept us. And some of us here, we don't even really want to be accepted. We were perfectly happy on our own here until things started to go bad. Anyway, I'm not one for planning. Someone else will have to figure it out, I suppose. But when they do, I'll be right there to help make it happen."

[Minath Khalsi 195]

@@Alex Kennedy,

 

Syl nodded, and started sniffing the air. She didn't want to ask what Raptor had made, but the scents blended together and made it difficult to distinguish.

 

"Raptor... what exactly did you make an where did you put it?" Syl asked meekly. Sometimes being blind was embarrassing.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@,

 

Raptor pushed a plate of various meats over to her. "There, just reach out right in front of you. As for what it is, I just fried up a bunch of meats from yesterday's hunt. I seasoned them, too, because I know you like it better that way. Eat well. You'll need the energy." 

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Alex Kennedy,

 

Diego laughed. "They'll never accept me," he said. "I was referring more to the mutated ponies when it came to acceptance. What I want to do is spread chaos across Equestria in revenge for them exiling me, but I doubt I'd be allowed to get away with that for very long."

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@@Pripyat Pony,

 

Scurry shrugged. "Maybe, but at least you're a pony. You don't immediately stand out. Someone like me stands out pretty much everywhere. Anyway, it doesn't much matter. There's no way we could all get accepted, and that leaves us with very few options left."

[Minath Khalsi 195]

@@Alex Kennedy,

 

Syl nodded thankfully, and reached out a paw, feeling for the nearest plate. She clumsily grabbed a few things from that plate and moved on to the next one. When she felt that she had grabbed enough food on her plate, she began to eat and identify each meat that touched her tongue.

 

"Thank you, Mok'nathal. Many would pity me but you make me strong." 

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@, 

 

Raptor shook his head. "You need not thank me for such things. All I have ever done is give you what you deserve. No more, and no less." He continued eating and was finished in a matter of minutes, not bothering with table manners since she couldn't see him eating anyway.

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Alex Kennedy, "A lot of good being a pony has done me," Diego said. "I may as well be mutated, or a diamond dog like you for all the good it does me. It's true that given the choice, I would prefer to go back to Equestria but since they won't let me do that, the next best thing is living here. But they don't want anypony here doing that, either. We have to do something about the oppression or else everypony here is going to die. True, some will survive, but you only have to look to see that most are starving."

[Minath Khalsi 195]

@@Alex Kennedy,

 

Syl heard Raptor's sloppy eating, but didn't comment on it.

 

"Well, thank you anyway, even if you feel like you don't need my thanks." Syl said, and continued munching her food. She was done shortly after Raptor, and moved her ear to him, indicating she was waiting for further instruction.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@@Pripyat Pony,

 

Scurry nodded sadly. "The worst part is that even if we could figure out what to do, the city has never had any formal leader. We don't have anyone to take charge or anything."

 

 

---

 

@,

 

Raptor nodded. "Alright, if you're done eating, go get a couple of bottles and fill them with water. Hunting is thirsty work. And make sure you've taken care of anything else you need to before we head out. I don't expect to be back before sunset." 

[Minath Khalsi 195]

@@Alex Kennedy,

 

Syl nodded and went to where the empty bottles were kept and began filling them up from the sink. Using the weight increase to determine when they were full, she was doing more efficiently than someone with eyesight.

 

When the bottles where full she set them on the counter and waiting for further instruction from Raptor.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@,

 

Raptor nodded. "Alright, are you sure you're ready? Once we leave we won't be coming back for quite a while. And you should probably eat as much as you can now, or you'll run out of energy later. Once you make sure you're as ready as you can be, we can head on out and get started." 

[Minath Khalsi 195]

@@Alex Kennedy,

 

Syl nodded and grabbed some fruit from her stash, munching them down in almost one bite, then blushed. Now Raptor certainly knew how much fruit she was eating.

 

"Uh, I need the extra sugars?" Syl said, wiping away the fruit juice that was dribbling down her maw. 

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@,

 

Raptor sighed. "I'll let it go this time, but you really should stop. You need the protein from meat to help you grow strong, but too much fruit will just make you get fat. And frankly-" He prodded her stomach with his talon. "I think you've already been getting a little soft lately." 

[Minath Khalsi 195]

@@Alex Kennedy,

 

((I can't think of anything to react to that that post without eye movement, but I'm gonna wing it.))

 

Syl scoffed when Raptor prodded her stomach.

 

"I am not. My kind eats fruit and meat equally, and because my bat ratio is higher I eat more fruit than the average Windrider. And even if I was getting fat, and I'm not, it would be from just sitting in here all day. And I think I would know if I was getting fat because me senses are higher, not sight, of course, but I would be able to tell if my body was heavier." Syl said with a sigh, finishing her rant.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@,

 

Raptor shrugged. "If you say so. But you're definitely not as skinny as when we first met. You were really all skin and bones back then. So I guess even if you are getting fat, it's still an improvement. Anyway, we need to get going. You'll never work off that belly if we stay here all day." He chuckled at that last part, obviously just pushing her buttons now. 

[Minath Khalsi 195]

@@Alex Kennedy,

 

Syl stuck her tongue at Raptor.

 

"I have no idea where we're going, so you'll have to lead the way. All the sounds get confusing to me after a while, so I won't be able to single out your breathing easily." Syl said, and meekly stuck out a paw onto Raptor's side, hoping to not get lost in the city.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@,

 

Raptor gently took her paw in his talon and lead her along. "Of course. Just hold on and I'll take you to my usual hunting spot." He led her out of the building before stopping and turning to her again. "I usually fly there, but if you'd rather walk, that's fine with me."