open Shifted

[Legendary Emerald 622]

Serah walked through the streets of Ponyville, still trying to cool off. She visually inspected the buildings she past, looking for anything that looked like a convenience store.

 

"Where's a Walgreens when you need one..." she frowned. "I wonder if I'll ever see anything from Earth again..."

 

For the first time since she'd found herself in her new form, in this new world of Equestria, Serah began to feel an emotion that had grown unfamiliar to her over the course of the past year. Not anger, not confusion, not even indifference.

 

She felt depressed.

 

"Screw it, I don't need cigarettes anyways. They probably aren't even natural to Equestria. I just want out of this town. Out of this messed up pony world."

 

She didn't know where to go. The prospect of going back to the inn from hell didn't exactly appeal to her, but she didn't feel like sleeping in an alley either. She decided she'd just continue her walk for a bit longer, and worry about how she'd spend the night later.

[Flow 1,629]

While making his way towards the inn, a sleepy Arty heard voices

 

"Hello Arty, not going to sleep? That's so much like you, one who would never give up, Ahh, you guys almost did it, but yet your still failures," He knew it was Discord "Cut it out, I'm tired, I don't need you need you here," "Oh? Your tired? Just go to sleep already, oh wait, your not going to, as expected of the element of perseverance, very clever my foolish friend," Then he got annoyed and said "Your starting to get on my nerves already, if I have to kill you now, then I would, you're lucky I'm so sleepy" "Oh! So you think you can beat me just by yourself? Brilliant statement right there, you all still failed to beat me, yet you say that?" "Jeez, I'm going to sleep, now shut up and get lost," "Okay fine, you're no fun at all," He said, disappointed.

 

Once he arrived at the inn, he opened the door and saw the manager, who greeted him, "Oh, welcome back ,um-" "The name is Arty, thank you for your hospitality" Then making a bow, "Ah, no problem sir" replied the manager. He couldn't stay up any longer, so he found a chair, sat on it, and fell asleep,

 

It wasn't long till he started drooling a bit.

Edited April 3, 2012 by Narutardedscum

[Electrobolt 2,069]

Electrobolt continued to swim through the lake, evading as many of the different colored fish as possible while doing little tricks, like looping around in a circle underwater along with all other kinds of underwater tricks. He was obviously having fun with his new form, as he began to grin while pulling off all of these tricks. He did, however, have to stop and continue going to the castle however. So he became serious again and rushed off straight ahead, only to smack into a wall, and hard. "Ow!!! Who puts a wall underwa---" he started to exclaim, before shaking his head. Swimming to the surface, he looked around and noticed he already made it to the other end of the lake.

 

"That fast, huh?" he muttered, as he jumped out of the water. Once he landed on the ground, he began to glow once more. After a few seconds, the glow vanished as Electrobolt returned to being a pegasus, the goggles he thought he had lost now on his face once more. Taking the goggles off, he simply stared at them, knowing not too long ago they had vanished from sight. "Huh, I guess these goggles allow me to swim underwater without any issues..." he thought out loud. "These could be useful later on... But how do I..." He then thought of how he could carry the goggles with no object to store them, before a saddlebag appeared on his back. Noticing the saddlebag appearing, he was about to question how they got there before deciding not to question it. He then stored the goggles in his newly-acquired saddlebag as he looked ahead of him.

 

And there it was: the next stop on the way to Discord. Electrobolt watched as the doors to the castle opened slowly, before he charged straight in. Upon entering, he noticed there were balls being whirled around by chains and little block things bouncing back and forth, and there was an escalator of sorts ahead too. Keeping an eye on the jumping blocks, he watched their moves and moved past them when he could. Now, he was at the escalator with the balls and chains. Making sure to be safe, he waited until the ball and chains were out of the way before moving. Once he got to the top, he opened the door and moved on to the next room.

 

In the next room, he looked around yet saw nothing threatening right off the bat. Though he did feel suspicious when he saw a set of blocks randomly sitting in the middle of the area, so he recalled when he thought in the first castle and looked to the ceiling. "Of course..." he whispered under his breath, as he saw a giant block just waiting for him to come crashing down on him. Backing up a bit, Electrobolt proceeded to charge forward as he leaped past the blocks, narrowly evading the giant crusher block. Leaping up the makeshift stairs and narrowly avoiding another one of these blocks, he skidded to a stop. Looking down at the gap between him and the platform ahead of him was a pit of lava. "Legs... Don't fail me now..." he whispered, backing up a little, before charging forward and narrowly making it to the other side. Sighing out of relief, he continued to the door ahead.

 

------

 

Electrobolt, in the real world, looked like he was having a bit of a rough time. His legs looked like they were twitching, and his facial expression showed off a bit of nervousness.

[Nathan Fink 22]

Stopping in his tracks, his ears perked at Peach's invitation. His thoughts swirled, trying to figure out what to do. She's the one who got me mixed in to all this...but, i guess she does only mean well... He turned to her and looked her up and down a bit. "...ok then. But if you dont mind, im just going to get my stuff and I'll be right over..." he continued on his way to the Inn. Though noticeably faster than before.

 

He reached the Inn, walking in and heading straight for his room to get his pack. He headed back down the stairs and headed out. Though as he reached the door, he stopped and turned his head to the spot where Discord had made the stairs which let to the illusion he had been trapped in. I simply mustn't think about it... He sighed wistfully and headed out, making his way to PeachPalettes cottage.

[PeachPalette 1,000]

Slowly, Peach walked, the cart being more of a burden to pull than before. She drove her body to it's breaking point and beyond that just moment ago. The blood that drained from her nose, lightly coated her muzzle, dry and cracked. Her fur stiff and caked with salt. She could have easily died there, yet she remained. Clearly, there was a bigger plan at hand. a plan for her and the rest of them.

 

"Anypony else that wants to follow, you're welcome to," she called behind her, her neck far too stiff and achy to look behind her. She hoped nopony thought she was being rude.

 

She sighed as her head hung low. She concentrated on the nearing hooves of Silver and SiFi behind her just to take her mind off of the pain of pulling the cart. She winced feeling an unpleasant pull in her shoulder and stopped in her tracks. They still had a walk to go. It wasn't going to be a very pleasant tread to her home, but the hope of possibly finding something to aid them in their quest in defeating Discord was more than enough enticement for her to keep going.

 

She pulled the cart again, only to gasp out in yet another surge of pain. "How am I going to do this?" Peach asked herself in a low whisper. She felt her eyes welling up with tears again and the little tug of a temptation called 'giving up'. She shook off the feeling as quickly as it came. "I...I have to...keep...going. ARGH!" She clinched her teeth together as she pulled again, and slowly the wheels began to roll again.

[Aureity 3,055]

It was getting slightly dark, Crystal Flame thought as he glanced over the horizon. Or maybe I'm just imagining things. Either way, how long did I spend waiting already? He looked back at the unconscious pegasi and sighed, then frowned. What if she's hurt? Then all this time I've been sitting here, she could have been dying of blood loss or something. I...should probably get her back. Yes, that's a good idea. I can leave her at the hospital, and I won't have to worry about nightfall or timber wolves or anything weird like that. Energized by that thought, he immediately lept to his hooves. Alrighty, how do I do this? Erm...

 

Summoning all the strength he had, he struggled for a few seconds, and finally managed to sling the unconscious pony over his back, breaking a few propping branches in the process. Flying wasn't an option with another pegasi on his back. Besides, if she fell off in midair, they'd be back where they started. C'mon, you can do this. Try. He began staggering back to Ponyville.

[Marcato 2,143]

silver could see Peach was straining with the cart. "Peach, hold on." He said to her. "Don't over exert yourself like this. After what you just went through theres no way you can pull that thing all the way." Silver pointed out to her, seeing the determination in her eyes. "Here, let me pull the cart for you." He offered, hoping she would accept.

[Electrobolt 2,069]

Once he walked through the door, Electrobolt looked at the area he was in now. The wall that was in front of him came close, then pulled back after sticking out a certain distance. Looking up, he saw more walls like this, as well as some roofs with holes in them. "Guess I gotta climb now, huh...?" he muttered as he proceeded to ascend the heights of this room. Once he tried to make the first jump across the gap, though, he failed to reach the platform that was sticking out as it slowly retracted into the wall.

 

"Darn, I missed! If only there was some way I could slow my---" He stopped mid-sentence as he looked to his sides again, noticing the wings. "Hmm, maybe I can!" He made it back to the same jump, and once he reached the height of his leap, he spread his wings out wide, hoping they would slow his descent to the ground. And slow his descent they did, as he glided to the next platform with ease.

 

"Well, that worked out great!" he stated, having made it across the gap safely. He continued his ascension through the towering room, crossing the gaps and using his wings to ease his descent if he came across another large gap that he wasn't sure he would be able to make otherwise. After he finished his climb, he came face to face with yet another red double-door. "Looks like it's time to face off with the next foe..." he whispered as he watched the doors slowly open. Once they were fully open, he charged right in.

 

Once he entered, he saw another turtle straight ahead of him, only this time he had the horns of a ram. Just then, walls had closed down behind him and the creature that was standing in front of him as well. This caused the creature to jump and look around as if he was shocked. "What was that, what was that!" he shouted before his gaze set on Electrobolt. "Oh, it's you, huh? Took you long enough! I was so bored of waiting, I actually fell asleep!"

 

"Well, here I am!" Electrobolt replied. "Let's do this!" With that, the turtle-ram hybrid began charging at him. Electrobolt jumped on top of the creature, landing on the opposite side of him. Enraged, the creature turned right around, charging straight at him again. At this, Electrobolt simply jumped on his head again, landing on the opposite side once again. "Is that the ONLY thing you can do???" he questioned, half-tauntingly.

 

At this remark, the creature was enraged. "So you wanna see more, huh? WELL YOU ASKED FOR IT!!!" he exclaimed as he charged at the wall in front of him, actually scaling the wall and walking on the ceiling! Once he was over Electrobolt, he jumped straight at him. "WHOA!!!" Electrobolt exclaimed, barely getting out of the way. *Mental note: NEVER taunt an enemy like that... It could get ugly, fast...* he thought as he got back on his hooves. Now he had to evade this crazy barrage of attacks for a while, until the creature started slowing down. Seeing this as an opportunity, he jumped on his head a third time, and with that, the creature collapsed.

 

Sighing out of relief, Electrobolt saw another door appear out of nowhere. "Two down... Five more to go..." he spoke between gasps as he walked towards the door. The door opened up and a blinding light filled the area, like last time. As Electrobolt walked into the blinding light...

 

------

 

Once more, Electrobolt found himself opening his eyes after the exact same moment. *I had that dream again...* he thought, his eyes halfway opened. Or was it a dream? He looked at his sides and saw they were bare, save for the cutie mark of a video game controller. *Yep, it was a dream...* Slowly, Electrobolt tried to get up on his hooves. This time, however, he finally managed to stand up, granted his legs were feeling slightly weak. But at least this time he was standing up.

[Flow 1,629]

Arty was fast asleep on a chair in the lounge, and the manager was sitting at the front desk reading a newspaper, it was silent and peaceful, till it was broken by two robbers breaking in, breaking the front door and holding up the manager "This is a holdup! Nopony move a hoof!" Shouted one of them, and by the looks of him, he's in his teens, and is a unicorn. But he is holding a piece of wood, why is he using it as his weapon when he could use his magic? The other one's a pegasai, also in his teens, and is wielding a bat, now that seemed more lethal, "Give us all your bits, NOW!!!!" Shouted the pegasus, and then that woke him up, and he isn't very happy.

 

No one would ever want to wake him up whenever he's asleep, because he gets really pissed upon doing so, and he won''t hesitate to punch the culprit, with painful results. Seems that this trait followed him into Equestria.

 

And that's when the situation got even worse, "Who dares wake me up?, Oh so it's you failures," He yelled, judging by their looks, where they look like dropouts from some pony high school, "Shut up! And don't move! I'll throw this to you!!!" Retorted the unicorn, but Arty fired back "Go ahead! Try you filthy failures! I'm not afraid of you!!" Then he used his magic and proceeded to take their weapons and levitate the would-be bandits at his amusement, "How do you like it now? Enjoying it?" "Waaaah!! Okay!! Stop!!!" "We're so sorry sir! Please put us down!!! Ahhh!!!!" And there he punished them for a minute and a half, then finally putting them down, "Go away!!! I never wanna see you failures AGAIN!!!" Shouting at the already frightened teens, who were galloping away as fast as they could, their plans all ruined by an angry white unicorn who actually was a human. It had caused so much noise in the inn

 

"Um, Thanks Arty, You saved the business," Thanked the manager, "Sigh, You can say that's my appreciation for your hospitality, I just hate it when some-pony wakes me up, thank you" he replied, with a smile. He then goes to his room and slept in there.

Edited April 4, 2012 by Narutardedscum

[PeachPalette 1,000]

Peach smiled meekly at the offer from Silver. "Yes. Yes that would be very helpful currently. Thank you, Silver," she said as she achingly slipped from the reins and nuzzled into his neck a bit. "You've been a big help," she whispered as she pulled away and gave him room to take the reins from here.

 

She trotted ahead with a slight limp, her tail barely swaying from side to side. Her mind tried to focus on what books, what ancient writings she would have at her disposal. Perhaps it was a good thing that her parents were hardly home and always on trips to far off lands. She sighed. She wished that they could be here for her now. Surely they'd know what some of the writings would tell her. Surely they'd know how to translate some of them.

 

She peered behind her at the quiet SiFi. I sure hope he's as smart as he looks, she thought before tearing her gaze away from him just as he looked up.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

Several hours had passed before Artsy had even stirred into slight consciousness. She had exerted so much effort upon her small body that it seemed as though she would never recover. It was covered in gashes, brushes, and dried scars which had been healed priorly by Silver. The unicorn could neither notice nor appreciate Brave's efforts until her dark eyes opened up slowly and meekly, her head throbbing and not really feeling all that rested. She looked down at her hooves, and saw that they still were not hands.

 

A loud sigh came from her mouth as she noticed Brave, also not looking so hot and rather unconscious. He had tears over his face and she surveyed him with a combination of awkwardness and sympathy. It felt like a moment of defeat, solidified by the stallion's sadness and her own feelings of dread. His tears only made the dull depression within her intensify.

 

"So... I guess it's all got you down too, huh? Me... it's nightmares. Or maybe that Discord fellow. I'm not really sure..." She decided to speak to him anyway, knowing he couldn't hear her. Artsy felt the need to speak to someone, but didn't want to hear their reactions at the moment. It would be to this asleep pony that she would express some of her restrained feelings, ones that she was holding painfully inside of her like a tension that was spreading throughout all of her limbs.

 

"And the fact that maybe... I might be stuck like this forever. Don't you miss it sometimes? I know I... do. Ugh... my head hurts like a bitch."

Edited April 4, 2012 by Arylett Dawnsborough

[Wolfe 71]

Back in his head, Brave laid there in the darkness. In pain. In distress. He rolled onto his back as he grit his teeth in pain. He lifted his head to see the bloody gash on his right side again. Brave tried again to get up. He held onto his would with his left hand and grabbed his right knee with his other hand. With one motion, he lifted his upper body to a straight position. His left hand felt a bit of blood flowing out. He then attempted to roll onto his belly once more, but drop his elbows on the ground to give him some leverage a bit later. He grunted and strained a bit more as he did this. More blood flowed out of his wound. Brave was now on knees and elbows. Just one more effort and he would be standing. He shifted his weight forward and then pushed up using his hands. He quickly brought his right knee up and pushed down to bring the other leg up. This brought the most pain on Brave.

 

~~~~~

 

Back at his pony body, the strain Brave seemed to make in his "dream" reopened his wound. Blood stained his coat and started flowing down his belly and back. At least it wasn't as much as Brave is seeing in his unconscious state.

 

~~~~~

 

He grit his teeth once more and brought his head down. Upon lifting his head, he saw another human. It was wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans. The shirt also has the same wound! And it was wearing the same thing Brave was! But... there's no face. No hair. No eyes. No mouth. Nothing. And yet...

 

"Why do you go on?" said the figure.

 

"What is the point of this?" said another copy appearing from the left.

 

"What do you plan to do?" said a 3rd from the right.

 

"But most importantly..." A 4th appeared behind Brave and performed a Full Nelson Hold on him.

(For reference: http://www.ultimatej...-nelson-2-1.jpg)

Brave's arms were brought up and he became immobile. He was too weak to break out. Then the one in front of him pulled something out... from his wound. A mirror. He shows it right in Brave's face.

 

"Who are you?"

 

Brave's heart jumped. He had no face. He lost all feeling... What... Who...

 

"Are you a somebody? Are you known by someone or somepony? Have you made your mark? Or even got a cutie-wootsy mark? Nope, Nu-uh, and that's a double no-no! I've looked at you Brave. Those long nights studying? Won't get you anywhere. Just a waste of time, energy, and talent. If you had any. Those 'friends' you helped out in your youth? They don't remember squat about your 'generous' actions. I haven't seen one invention. One inspiration. One gift. One talent. NOT ONE OUNCE OF AN IDENTITY. Those bullies were right! You were, and are nothing!"

 

Discord seemed to have really broken Brave, but he knew it was fun to drag the chaos for a lot longer. The figure gave a wide, creepy mouthless grin. Brave's faceless reflection spun and morphed into Discord's own face. He stuck his hand outside the mirror, broke off a piece, and started eating the glass.

 

"I'd suggest you find a fake identity. The one you have now seems to not work..."

 

Discord then stuck his hand out again and laid a finger on Brave's chest. A gentle poke, and Brave started falling. Falling... Down and down into the darkness He saw the "Faceless". He saw the people who bullied him. They called him "nerd," "geek," "wimp," "crybaby," and other taunting names that he remembered. He even saw people he recognized, but they turned their backs upon seeing Brave.

 

He heard something else in the darkness, but he didn't understand it...

 

"nightmares... not really sure... might be stuck... sometimes? I know I... "

 

Discord's face emerged closer and closer to Brave until he was engulfed in his mouth.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

NOOOOOOO!!!

 

Brave jolted up from his unconscious state back in Artsy's room. He was very, very shaken up. His heart was pounding, his blood raced, and bled. He was still in pain and in such a sweat. Brave felt the tears on his face, and realized he was once again a pony. His eyes were wide and dilated. Slowly, Brave swallowed a bit of saliva to clear his dry throat and slowly opened his mouth.

 

...who...?

[Flow 1,629]

Once again, Arty's slumber was ruined again, by someone screaming, "Dear god, WHAT NOW?!?" He got of the bed, and searched for the source of the noise, it came from the room across his own, so, with an angry face, he marched to that door and opened it, "And yelled "CAN YOU PLEASE SHU-", his voice stopped abruptly, and he stood there frozen "Oh no, B-Brave? A-Ar-Artsy? Oh no I-I-I'm sorry for what I did!! You two where injured and I--I yelled at you, I am so so sorry, I didn't know it was you guys, I'm going!!"

 

He backed out, but he bumped into the door, closing it, "Oh no!!" he thought ,"Okay, you can beat me for my actions, this is retribution!!" he said, and so he braced himself for whatever they where going to throw at him.

 

He thought, maybe Artsy will slap him hard on the face, or maybe brave will yell loudly at him, Arty is ready for it.

 

(OOC: This is a post to interact with people, I didn't interact with anyone before, that's why my posts are boring, and If I'm not supposed to be here, then my apologies)

Edited April 4, 2012 by Arylett Dawnsborough
Posting in the RP after he was ejected.

[Trixies Apprentice L 493]

Lionheart was silent for a lot of time after his speech though it was kinda obvious that the people around were too tired ro listen to him, something he kinda perfectly understood. It was weird, the feeling were weird but he kinda didn;t miss the human world. Even if this place was strange it was interesting, far more than his and the way people treated one another with exception to that Discord it was fascinated and in complete contradiction to the human one.For the first time in this trip after all this he felt he could trust the ponies around him and he found himself quite curious to learn some stuff about this place but first he had to do something else.

 

With his mind made Lionheart lit up his spell and the hoofprints of the ponies appeared. He saw Peache's,Silver's and SiFi's. He quickly galloped following them and shortly after reached them. He saw Peach and Silver pulling the cart and SiFi following in silence. He quitle reached near Peach and Silver and said. "Peach...I'm sorry for doubting you." His voice was quite silent when he said the last line because he wasn't used to apologising or making wrong assumptions in general, this adding to his already prideful personality made it kinda akward to spell it out.

 

"Oh and Silver you were kinda right. I was making wrong assumptions quite too quickly." Lionheart said his tone was more cold statement like than apologetic even if he meant it to be apologetic but that was the least of his worries the thing he wanted right now was to actually try and fit in in some sort.

[Aureity 3,055]

Crystal Flame breathed a sigh of relief as Ponyville finally came into view. Not a moment too soon...I feel like collapsing. His knees were getting dangerously wobbly, and all the energy his body had contained just a few hours ago had vanished. In fact, the only reason he was still going was the knowledge that if he stopped now, the pegasi on his back-who might need medical treatment or something-would be left stranded here. A few hours and she still hasn't woken up? That's pretty concerning.

 

His exhausted hooves finally found the dirt path that led straight to the town, and he began following the path, swaying dizzily as he walked. He blinked twice, rapidly, not trusting his eyelids not to droop shut. So much pain...what for? a voice in his head seemed to snicker. Shut up, he told himself angrily. They're counting on me. Your little group of...heroes...perhaps. But if you're going to be running around town helping every pony that you see, you're going to be out of energy very ssssoon...The voice hissed the last word like a snake. And then what will the group think of you? In fact, here you are...exhausted and with an unconscious pegasi on your back. Has anyone come to help?

 

They're probably busy, he snapped back at the voice, which had now gone silent. Although...that doesn't explain why NO ONE has come to help...not even the citizens. In fact, he realized with indignation, there were weather pegasi battering the clouds right now! Right in front of him! And with no care at all to the pony down below. Don't think about it, some ponies are just absent-minded. Just...keep walking. Keep...walking. He continued repeating this in his head as he-finally-reached the buildings that made up the outer border of Ponyville.

[Electrobolt 2,069]

Electrobolt slowly looked around, not seeing Peach, Crystal Flame, and a few other ponies. "Where... Where did some of them go...?" he asked, still feeling slightly weak. He continued looking around before spotting a pony coming in from the distance. *Is... Is that one of them...?* he thought, watching the pony come closer. Upon further inspection, he could barely see another pony on the one pony's back. "That..." he started, trying to walk slowly. "That pony... Looks like he... Needs he-argh-help..."

 

He couldn't move more than a foot from his current position before his legs gave way again and he collapsed to the ground. *Ugh, darn it...* he thought, looking at the ground. He was still feeling weakened from earlier. Aw, what's the matter? Feeling useless...? That voice came back to his mind again. *Shut up, just... Shut up...* I bet your so-called "friends" think you're useless, pathetic, and helpless. Electrobolt managed to work up enough strength to move his hooves in front of his face, to block off his face from the rest of the world as he thought, *No, that's... That's not true... I just...* Just what? Feel weak? Insignificant? Worthless? The voice kept spitting out insults as Electrobolt silently denied them. *Just... Just go away...* he finally thought, hoping that the voice would disappear. Then silence filled his mind, as the voice finally left him alone.

[SuperTheAwesome 199]

Hello there Speed!

 

There was a new voice now, different than the other one. This one seemed like it was enjoying itself. Seemed like it was laughing.

 

Sorry I didn't visit you earlier, like I did the other ponies. You just seemed so... boring in that little slumber of yours. But I cannot lie, that was not the only reason. I don't like you, Speed. You're a pegasus, but you can't fly! You're a loser!

 

"LOSER?!" Speed became enraged when she heard those words. "I am not a loser. I'm simply not meant to fly. I'm a human!" She got up and looked around.There were three more humans in front of her. Them... Speed thought. It was those idiot girls. Speed decided that it was time to face them. To fight them. Speed dashed towards the girls, who continued to smile. The oldest of the three girls raised her hand, and Speed saw the rock in it. But this time, instead of throwing it, the girl raised another hand, and Speed saw a red pair of glasses in it. The girl dropped the glasses on the ground, and raised the rock high into the air...

 

The girl slammed the rock down onto the pair of glasses. The glasses were shattered into a million pieces, and Speed started to cry. She collapsed to the ground, and look up at the girls, who were still smiling. Speed's vision started to fade away...

 

--

"NO!" Speed screamed, waking from her nap.

 

She looked around to see where she was. She was on the back of the pegasus she had seen earlier. He had come to help her. How embarrassing... She thought, feeling pain on her face. She put a hoof on her face and felt... blood. Lots of blood. She was lucky that her skull didn't crack.

 

She looked back down to the pony that was carrying her. "Could you... could you please put me down?"

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

Her eyes followed the progress of Brave's agony as she stopped speaking when he began to move more. The unicorn cringed at his bloody wound, trying not to look at it too much... then she jumped, startled by his loud shout as he awoke. Her exhaustion left her, replaced by a pounding heart pumping adrenaline into her veins. For a while, she was silent, not responding to his rasped question of who. Artsy was merely too shocked to react, gazing at him with wide eyes.

 

"Um... you're... are you okay? You don't look so good... I mean, I know I'm not feeling so good myself. But man, you really don't look so good..." She tried not to speak too much, knowing that he probably didn't have it in him to answer everything she was saying. Her questions might overwhelm him... and Artsy certainly wasn't one to be inconsiderate.

 

Thus, as she waited for his response, her eyes went along the room. And she had recognized it instantly as her room in the inn. How on earth did she get here? What happened to Discord, the others? Was it all a dream? Was he dead? Did they win? For some reason, she didn't get that feeling. It was still a feeling of a hollow emptiness as the dread continued to hang over her like a blackened curtain. Had they been defeated? But then, how were they still alive? The last thing she could remember was accessing her element and Discord being weakened immensely as the others let forth a burst of power. And then the rest was just pieces to a puzzle that she could not find.

[Deshi Bashara 6]

Cole noticed Electrobolt was having a rough time and moved over to him. "Are you all right?" he asked the other pony. As Electro went down the last time, he realized how stupid that question sounded. "On second thought, forget I asked that." Cole added, helping him to his hooves. "How'd this happen to you?"

[Electrobolt 2,069]

Electrobolt, with help from Cole, got back on his hooves. "Thanks..." he spoke to Cole, barely above a whisper. When he heard Cole ask how this happened to him, he thought for a bit. "W-well... I..." he began, trying to remember what happened again. "The only thing I can remember... Is giving some of my energy... To Peach, so she could hold Discord back a little longer..." He sighed, remembering Discord was still free. "I guess I sent more than I thought..." he added before looking back to the two ponies who had arrived at the border of Ponyville.

[Legendary Emerald 622]

Following a familiar scent, Serah found herself at the Ponyville marketplace. Shops were set up alongside the road, carrying various foods and other items.

 

“Reminds me of the flea markets in America. They were always useful for gathering supplies.”

 

Most of the shops had already closed, or were in the process of closing. She scouted the ones that were still open, keen eyes searching for the easiest targets or most tantalizing targets.

 

She saw a bread stand, and knew it was that smell which had lead her to this place. What was probably the last batch of the day had just been put out on the counter: two beautiful, steaming loafs of home-made whole-wheat.

 

“Perfect.”

 

Serah discreetly approached the stand, eyes directed elsewhere so as not to give away her intentions. She couldn't just use her levitation spell to steal the bread; not only would the light from her horn give her away, but things she magically manipulated had a tendency to... get a bit heated. She overheard the two brown earth-ponies who ran the shop talking to one another in hushed tones.

 

“I'm sorry honey. I just don't think there will be any more customers today.”

 

“There won't be if we keep trying to sell the same dusty loaves.”

 

“I know. But we're running out of wheat, after what that chocolate rain did to our field.”

 

“As soon as we make our bits back, we can buy flour and make bread that way.”

 

“I know. But no one has the bits to spend these days.”

 

“Then lower the prices again. Ponies can't just stop needing bread.”

 

“I know. But we've lowered the prices so much already.”

 

“Damn it all Wheatley, then how our we supposed to provide for our children?”

 

“I... don't know...”

 

Serah cringed. She wasn't going to be stealing from those two ponies. No matter how hungry she was.

 

Another voice grabbed her attention from a few stalls away. A displeased customer, arguing with a cherry salesmen.

 

“50 bits for a cherry?! That's ludicrous!”

 

“You don't like it, you don't buy it.”

 

“You've always been nothing but a crook. Even before Discord showed up you've charged everypony a hoof and a tail.”

 

“Listen again, closely. You don't like it... you don't buy it!”

 

Serah contained a smirk.

 

“Much better.”

 

She approached the stand, it's owner too preoccupied to notice her. A bowl of cherries sat on the table. The fact that the unshaven scrooge behind the counter was trying to sell the cherries one apiece spoke even further of the injustice at hand. Serah had no regrets as she grabbed the handle to the basket in her teeth and trotted away at a brisk but not noticeable pace.

 

“Not bad, not bad.”

 

Serah would have pat herself on the back if she were able to, and not in clear sight of anyone who might be watching.

 

“Hey, wait!” a voice suddenly called out to her. She heard the sound of hooves approaching her as well.

 

“Shit.”

 

Serah wasn't about to run, even if she did just want to find somewhere private to eat her ''meal''. She turned to face the pony walking up to her, and was relieved to see it was only the pony who'd been arguing with the cherry salesman.

 

“Hey, I saw what you did back there.” the pony stated matter-of-factly.

 

Serah looked at the pony, then down at the basket in her clenched teeth, and then back to the pony. Her body language bled a sarcastic 'oh?'

 

“I don't agree with what you did. But, I don't exactly want to tell that vast herd of a sales-pony where his missing stock went either.” the pony continued, and then cleared his throat. “I'm uh, willing to let you off the hook if you'll sell me those.”

 

Serah snorted, but raised an eyebrow. 'How much?' she seemed to ask.

 

“50 bits. For the whole basket.” the pony added.

 

Serah had no concept of how much that was, but the other pony didn't know that. She could only trust that this was a good deal. Sighing, she placed the basket down on the ground.

 

“Deal.” she said. The pony took two hefty looking coins out of his pouch, which she accepted. The pony nodded his thanks, and then took the basket and left without another word.

 

“What a coward, waiting for someone else to do what he should have done. I almost dislike him as much as the sales-pony.”

 

At least she had money now, and she knew where she would like to spend it. She headed back over towards the bread stand, where the husband was trying to console his wife. Awkwardly, she dropped the two coins on the table.

 

“What can I purchase with this?” she asked, hoping against hope that she hadn't been cheated out of her cherries. When she saw the couple raise their eyebrows, she took it as a good sign.

 

“It'll buy you our last loaf of the day, that's for sure. They're on sale for twenty bits.” he said. Serah's eyes visibly widened; just how much was that cherry salesmen gypping his customers?

 

“I'll take it, then.” Serah responded after she'd gotten over the initial shock. The two shop owner's faces lit up, and the sales-mare excitedly bagged up the loaf of bread for her. The lady pony offered to hang the bag over Serah's neck for her; Serah accepted.

 

“Thank you.” Serah said in her usual stoic manner. She started to walk away.

 

“Wait, what about your change?” the female pony called after her.

 

Serah didn't pay her any attention, and left the marketplace behind.

Edited April 5, 2012 by Legendary Emerald

[Wolfe 71]

Brave didn't expect a response from himself or Artsy. Oh, Artsy... Looks like she's already awake... and noticed this... Just get off the topic. I don't need anyone worrying about me... After all... I'm... He stopped himself right there. He just wasn't sure what to think or say. He slowly got up, regardless of the pain that he's in. He looked away and down from Artsy, in order to hide his discouraged face.

 

I'm... fine. Just need to bandage this up... You've no need to worry about me. He tilted his face slightly to Artsy. What about you? You were out cold after you fell from the sky. Had to carry you back to the Inn... And unfortunately, Discord managed to escape..... He paused for a moment, sad at the news himself. He turned away from Artsy again. But don't think of it as your fault. It's not. Regardless, after what happened, everyone else split to recover and think of what to do next. Silver is going with Peach to her house to try and find something on Discord. I dunno about where everyone else is or what they're doing.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

She shook her head, feeling a bit woozy still and not all that hot, but decided to lie through her teeth for his sake.

 

"I'm all right. But should everyone really be apart after all that? I don't think splitting up is the smartest idea. After all, that monster guy got us all last time because we all split up..." The unicorn let out a loud sigh that betrayed her emotions slightly. They needed something to cheer them up, but all she could do at the moment was wallow in her own unhappiness. She'd never get to see him again... all because she had accessed this element. Her heart weighed heavy with a burden she wasn't sure how to voice. And one she didn't want to voice for fear that that might make it more true.

 

It was times like these Artsy wished she was the more stoic type. Tears formed underneath her eyes slightly, making them somewhat glimmery in the light of the room. So that he wouldn't see, she averted her gaze to another direction.

 

"What do you think of this whole... pony thing anyway?" Her voice danced into his ears hesitantly, not exactly sure where she was going. "I mean, what now? Do you even think it's possible for us to get home? What if we were stuck here forever?"

[Aureity 3,055]

Where was he going? His mind was as muddled as the pathway ahead of him. Where could he go? To whom could he turn? Gingerly he stepped into the alleyway.

 

"Maybe...it probably wasn't a good idea to run away."

 

He couldn't go back now, though. Just as this alleyway had only one exit forward, so too did the path he had to walk. There was no turning back.

 

He took a step forward, hesitantly. Then stopped. Cautiously, he turned his head back. One last time, to glance behind him.

 

And-

 

"NO!"

The shrill scream snapped him immediately back to attention, and he almost fell flat on his face in surprise. Only quick reflexes and the lightning-fast momory that there was a pegasi on his back that wouldn't fare too well from that kept him on his already-buckling knees. "What the...?" Craning his neck backwards, he realized that the pegasi had woken up. Finally. After what seems like half the day.

 

The pegasi was asking to be put down now. Carefully, he heeded her request, stopping and sinking to the ground to allow her to get off. It was then that he noticed her head was bleeding. "Erm...you'll probably want to get that checked up," he said awkwardly. "The hospital's over there, and try not to crash into anything else in the meantime..." He pointed a hoof in the direction of a building with a large red cross, hoping that it was indeed a hospital and not some sort of sign store.

 

He noticed two other ponies near a cluster of buildings, one of which was watching him. Recognizing them as ponies from the inn-thank goodness that they hadn't ALL split up-he gave them a tired wave.

[Electrobolt 2,069]

Seeing that the one pony was letting the other pony off of his back, Electrobolt let out a slight sigh of relief. *At least they seem to be alright...* he thought, a small smile creeping onto his face. As he tried to get a better look at the two ponies, he saw that they were both ponies he met before, one of them being Speed. The other pony, he wasn't sure if he knew his name though, even though he saw him at the inn last he remembered.

 

Seeing that the other pony waved at him, Electrobolt started to try and wave back. This only caused his legs to shake more as he quickly put his leg down. *Maybe I should wait until I feel strong enough to attempt waving to others...* he thought, looking at him still. Instead of waving back, he instead slowly nodded at him, acknowledging him at least.