private ~* Feral Ponies *~ {RP}

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@, Wish rolled her eyes. "For your information, the type of magic does not matter when it comes to reinforcing this cage," she replied. She hadn't been lying, and she resented the unspoken assumption that she had been. "However, I'm not about to go into detail about the reinforcement to a prisoner. That should be obvious to anypony, even a non Feral."

 

The cage was in fact constructed so that any kind of magic, unicorn or otherwise, could be used to reinforce it. This was to ensure that it wasn't reliant on one pony, or one group of ponies so that should anything untoward happen, there would still be somepony around to strengthen the spell.

[Hive King 2,001]

@@Pripyat Pony,

"Ah, thanks for the clarification" Mantorok added politely, inwardly smirking. She had inadvertantly told him one of the runes in the cage, a "Ulyaoth" rune. It meant magic, but with the way she was using it implied it wasn't the only rune. "I find it odd how you imply ferals are smarter than us when it is quite clear you are little more than brutes" Mantorok taunted, hoping to anger her. The angrier their jailors got, the less they'd focus. They'd make dumb mistakes

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@, Mist had encountered prisoners before who had tried this tactic, and she was not impressed at seeing it again. "Think what you like," she replied. "It won't help you in the end. Even if you did get out of here, the wild cats would probably get you. If you were as intelligent as you claim, you'd realise that co-operation is your only hope and antagonising those who supply you with food and water isn't the best move."

 

Lily, despite her mother's warning, peeped at the prisoners in the cage. She was too young as of yet to have been given Equibane; young ponies were only ever given it once they reached adulthood cuz their young bodies couldn't cope with the plant's effects until they were way past foalhood.

[Hive King 2,001]

@@Pripyat Pony,

"I'm more hardy than you think" Mantorok replied, idly tapping his hoof against the bars of the cage. Just a tiny crack, that's all he needed right now. "And cooperating would not be in my best interests. I'd sooner die than be turned into a stupid slut such as yourself" Mantorok spat, hoping the harsh insult would be enough to spur her into action.

 

He looked at the foal and smiled warmly. "Want to play a game? Just hit the cage for a while, then, funny sparks will come out" Mantorok cooed, trying to crack the cage again 

[Malinter 3,064]

@@,

 

 

"I'd love to play a game with you.."

 

He stared at the foal and gestured her to leave. Now. Before turning back to back to Mantorok. 

 

"Tell me, Warlock. How potent will your magics be if I were to remove the burden of you having limbs?"

 

He produced the charred remains of one of Mantarok's books, it had consumed itself in fire but Mal knew of old magic, older than Mantorok himself. He hadn't be able to "read" the texts as such, but had been able to glean their age and nature. Zebra magic was for that. He'd once fought alongside one of their most feared shamans, outcasts even by their own tribal traditions and watched as their foes fell to what appeared to be curses and pure bad luck to the untrained eye but a mere application of knowledge masked under a veil of deception.

 

He threw the book to the aged warlock.

 

"Our knowledge runs deeper than yours, if you wish to see how deep our knowledge runs. I suggest you cooperate... or perhaps I might just have Equibane rammed down your throat. The first time is rather... intense."

 

He turned to leave but spoke to one of the guard.

 

@@Pripyat Pony,

 

"Send word to Lightning. He and I need to talk."

Edited March 31, 2014 by Malinter

[Hive King 2,001]

@@Malinter,

Mantorok paled as he saw the charred book. That wasn't good. It had been full of notes on the abominations that he could summon. He could do fine without it, but it was still disconcerting to see it destroyed.

 

"I doubt losing my limbs would do much. As you can see, my limbs barely work anymore" Mantorok replied, keeping his voice even and unemotionless. He did gesture for Malinter to come closer. "You do not know what you are playing with! These are not the runes you know of, these are so dangerous, even Sombra deemed them destructive. They call upon powers that none of us can understand, just seeing a glimpse of one was enough to nearly drive me insane!" Mantorok hissed, pleading with the feral pony. While nothing disastrous would happen unless they found the Tome of Eternal Darkness(safely hidden back home with a Black Guardian protecting it), having these untrained ponies playing around with such magic would be dangerous.  

 

"In any case, how are your flanks healing up? I assume they still sting, being hit with a runic weapon does that" Mantorok spoke, changing the subject quickly. Talking about his work was something he didn't like doing, for a paranoia that someone would hear him. Someone with less noble intentions. A servant of the Ancients

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Malinter, The guard mare nodded, and without another word galloped off, heading towards the part of the forest where the stallions lived. Once she was there, she sought out Lightning and gave him Malinter's message. Lightning immediately set off, in company with the guard mare, to the mare's clearing.

 

Wish took Lily away without another word. She knew that no good would come from conversing with prisoners more than she had to. Back when she herself was Lily's age, Wish remembered two wandering ponies being held prisoner in the cage. One was a warlock much like this pony; she had attempted to break free of the cage, but had been caught and quickly subdued. The other was an earth pony. He had galloped to freedom, breaking thru the guards and believing himself safe, had stopped to gloat. The wild cats had fed well that night, the body of the earth pony stallion lasting them several days. As for the warlock, she had been force fed Equibane as punishment for trying to escape. She too had died, her aged body unable to cope with its effects.

Edited March 31, 2014 by Pripyat Pony

[Malinter 3,064]

@@Pripyat Pony,

 

Malinter had returned his hut once again, he had to prepare a few things before Lightning arrived. He had much to explain but wasn't sure how to explain it.... Lightning was a warrior, not a student. It'd be simplier to just tell him to kill the warlock and throw his bones to the big cats.

 

But no... not yet anyway...

 

This magic, these runes, he'd seen them before. Heard them spoken. Malinter believed there may be some truth to what the warlock had said about not seeking out Equibane. But he was here under Celestia's orders, no matter how indirectly the warlock believed he was. He could not be trusted.

 

In any case, what happened, the fate of the Warlock would Lightning's hooves. 

 

After all. If the warlock refused to co-operate. He knew of one other who could give him his answers, though he'd rather bend his knee to Celestia before he started begging 'her' for favours. 

Edited March 31, 2014 by Malinter

[Aquaspark 14]

@@Pripyat Pony,@,  "What is this plant that you speak of, ruining the wild life and the so called Ferals?" She asks Lykos.

 

"Am I to assume, that a plant is to blame for all of the stuff that is happening right now? To blame for everything that has, and will go wrong?"

 

She asks, stomping her hoof into the muddy earth. "What does it look like? How do we destroy it?"
 

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Aquaspark, "Destroying the plant would be the worst thing we could do," Glory replied. "For one thing, any plant has an ecosystem attached to it. Simply razing the plant would cause an ecosystem to collapse, and death and suffering to local wildlife as well as to fellow ponies. For another, we need to learn about our enemy first before we attack them. The slightest mistake could result in our deaths. We will hide out in the frontier town and regroup first, try and see if there are any clues to be found round here, as well as forage for supplies. What I and Artemis have will not last us for very long, and she's right; we have a much better chance of survival if we remain here."

[Aquaspark 14]

@@Pripyat Pony, "I will not argue your point Glory." She says with a small bow. "You are the leader in my book, seeing as I am inexperienced when it comes to situations exactly like this. I have never dealt with Ferals before, and in all honesty I am scared to do so. I hope you will make all the right decisions when it comes to the safety of this little group. I also hope you realize that our lives are in your hooves." 

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Wind Sonnet.

 

@@00Pony,

 

 

Sonnet watched the pony with an intrigued expression for a moment before her wits retuned and she gave a half-shrug to herself. No doubt she would find out the answers to her questions one way or the other - it was good that he hasn't reacted with the same hostility as the other, primitive ponies had. Perhaps there were still sone who didn't approve of warmongering - perhaps it was the crystalline coated ponies! she was - after all - convinced that her own views were much less brutish than say, some of the other members of the herd...

 

Not weaker, she reiterated to herself. Simply more cunning. More reasonable.

 

There was an obvious pile of items confiscated from the prisoners - but that wouldn't sate her curiosity. This was her chance to investigate: she slung the bags over her back haphazardly and waved over another of the mares. What was her name again... Sweet... something? Oh!

 

@,

 

"Blossom!" She shouted out as politely as she could manage, waving a free hoof towards the mare. It was easier to not sound sarcastic around the mares: they were less prone to stupidity. She pointed towards Saronyx - the captured crystal stallion.

 

"This pureblood here, I don't think he'll give you any trouble, but can you keep an eye in him for me?" She asked pleadingly with an attempt at a winning smile. Foalsitting duty wasn't an idea she thought highly of - even when it was unruly captives in question. "I've got to go do something... just keep an eye on him, can you? I won't be long, Just a few minutes - maybe get some water... you know how it is!"

[Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb 167]

@

"Sure I can watch him got nothing better to do with my life right now so go on your little adventure that you always go on when you are bored just do bring back some water we could use some. Well at least I can I'm to lazy to get water right now besides someone needs to make sure Lilly doesn't talk to them wish can't do it the whole time"

Edited April 1, 2014 by Anto677

[Grapz224 137]

@@Pripyat Pony, 

Soul had been applying his ointment all this time, and when he was finished, he walked up and moved over to the side of the cage near the one who had given it to him.

 

"You'll have to excuse my... friend... He isn't the Kindest of ponies. Thank you for the ointment. Am I allowed any food or water here that is not touched by the Equibane? I mean no disrespect, but I would rather just take a small sample and leave, without eating any of it."

 

He Turned back to his stuff, and levitated his ointment back into it. 'Curious,' He thought. 'While the cage is magically protected from raw force, levitating small objects in and out seems a rather easy feat.'

 

He turned back to the pony in front of him. 'I should ask, though.' Unlike Mantorok, he did not want to upset these ponies.

"Is it ok if I take a parchment from my bag, along with some quills and ink? I would like to draw to pass the time. As you can tell from my cutie mark, I excel at Pony portrayals. I could draw you if you'd like."

 

This wasn't at all a lie. While his cutie mark was for good company, he had done a number of sketches over the years to pass the time, some of which portrayed ponies he knew. It was one of his favorite pastimes, and he was not that bad at it.

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Aquaspark, @,

 

Glory gulped; she wasn't used to the responsibility but there was no time to worry about that now. "We should head to the far side of the town," she said. "We can't risk the ferals coming to find us here."

 

@@Grapz224, Wish turned at one of the other captives replying, and relaxed when she saw which one it was. "Certainly," she replied. "You have co-operated, so there is no need for me not to do likewise. I will bring you some water."

 

Wish left and returned with a small wooden container of water, which she levitated thru the bars of the cage to Soul.

 

@@Malinter, Lightning arrived at the mare's clearing. He walked straight to Malinter. "I got your message," he said. "What was it you wished to discuss with me? We had better do so out of earshot from both the mares and the prisoners."

[Malinter 3,064]

@@Pripyat Pony,

 

"Ah, Lightning. You've arrived."

 

Lightning gestured for the pair of them to move out of earshot of the prisoners and other ponies.

 

"We need to discuss the fate of the Warlock, this Mantorok. The spells he is using, these runes as he calls them, are of no magic nopony could learn in the halls of Canterlot. Even Zahlari, powerful as he was had nothing of these in his notes and he was even more travelled than I. The few changling texts I possess cover it in small detail and their history pre-dates Starswirls own writings by a good three centuries..."

 

He glanced over to Mantarok in his cell before looking back at Lightning.

 

"He is dying faster than he knows. I imagine he has been using the runes to keep himself alive but without the correct knowledge he could be healling a wound or casting a plague on us and we'd be non the wiser till the words past his lips."

 

"I'd like to study this magic alittle more, but in his current state.... I think we should try giving him Equibane. A small dose. See if he can survive it. However, should he survive. He cannot stay here. he poses to great a risk."

 

Malinter stroked his chin.

 

"Or you could just kill him. My own interests aside. It might be more prutent to let this magic die and be forgotten. I leave the decision to you."

Edited April 1, 2014 by Malinter

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Malinter, Lightning thought the matter over for a few moments. He did want to kill the warlock; however, he trusted Malinter's judgement in such matters and set his own wishes aside.

 

"I think that the warlock should be given a dose of Equibane, perhaps in his food or water," he eventually replied. "If he recovers, his magic, whatever it is, will be on our side. If not... well, as you said, it will be no loss and we will be rid of the risk. I will leave the matter in your capable hooves."

[Malinter 3,064]

Malinter had been working several hours at this point.

 

He had wanted to simply have Mantorok taken away from the others and given the Equibane directly, this was usually the way it was done. Usually with some form of ceremony for those who embraced it willingly. Forcing someone to take Equibane was an entirely different matter...

 

Those who accepted the transformation would find joy in there now found senses, those who hated it turned mad or worse than mad. These prisoners had called them "Ferals" but that was not the case, the tribe's function as to bring mental stability to those effected. The true ferals were lost to madness and had roamed the badlands. In his younger years he had worked to try and reverse the effects of Equibane so that they might save these lost souls. But by the time he had something approaching an effective cure they had all been killed off. Either by the Big Cats or by some of the others in self defence. He himself had killed one. It took no effort to dispatch it but it has a terrible thing to see one so wasted and from that day had sought to stablise rather than cure the Equibane transformation. He'd secretly been altering the plant for years, his own flowers produced bigger blossoms and grew faster than the few that grew in the wilds. He'd also effectively reduced its fatality rate to about 1/10 at the cost of being slightly less potent that the same plant that had tranformed him... that one was special.

 

He was getting lost in thought.

 

What he was doing now was what they normally did for the younglings about to enter adulthood. A small dose, plupped to be easier to swallow or in this case, easier to hide the taste. He wasn't even sure if this amount was safe for one so old, but if it were they could slowly introduce it to his system, if it didn't kill him that is.

 

with the food prepared, ordered one of the mares to take it to him when they fed the prisoners.

 

Now all he could do was wait.

[Grapz224 137]

@, @@Pripyat Pony, @@Aquaspark,

 

Soul had levitated his Quills, Ink, and a few rolls of Parchment into the cell. finding a nice hard, flat rock, he sat down and started to draw free-hand. He started to draw some of the fillies nearby, playing.

 

When it started to get dark out, and few ponies were paying attention to him, nopony looked over his shoulder so he quickly swapped over to the Magic Parchment. In a rush, he wrote down:

 

"Artemis. Me, Mantorok, and Techni are in a clearing in a forest. In a cage. The Females are a lot nicer than the males and can be reasoned with. What is going on over there? Mantorok angered a few of the ponies here... They threaten to force Equibane down his throat. Hurry!"

 

He then sent a bolt of magic through the paper, sending the entire message to Artemis. He prayed she would notice the glow of the paper as it received a message.

 

Very calmly, he swapped back over to the picture of the Foals. He had finished drawing a few of them, but it was not done yet. He would be up for a few more hours, working on it. 

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Grapz224, One of the foals playing was Lily. Wish watched the foals play, smiling. Lily was Wish's first foal, as she had had her ascension to adulthood only a couple of years before she had become in foal. She did hope to have more, tho. Wish didn't understand the few mares, Sonnet among them, who scorned motherhood and didn't wish to have foals with the stallions.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Wind Sonnet.

 

@,

@@00Pony,

 

Sonnet raised a brow and smirked a little.

 

"You know me too well. Oh, and can we keep this..." She jerked her head back towards the stallions belongings that were slung across her back. "... just between us? I want to have a poke through before anyone else."

 

She glanced about - the foals were playing happily about the clearing: no doubt the rest of the mares could watch them around the prisoners. They might be docile, submissive things... but there was a fire there, if the young were ever endangered. A fire that she approved of.

 

"like I said, he shouldn't be any trouble. I'll just be a little while - thanks again!"

 

...

 

Tussling the mane of one of the children as they passed too close to her, she was confident that nopony of note would have noticed - or paid any attention anyway - as she slipped into the trees.

 

Finding a suitable location - she settled in a sheltered area surrounded by foliage and fanned out her wings to catch the light and hide herself in an excellent camouflage. Confident that she wouldn't be discovered - possibly over confident in her haste - she began to pick through the contents of the bag. She hadn't anticipated so many books - what was it with purebloods and books? They were useless to her: she didn't even pay them a second glance after struggling with the strange symbols for a short while. The rest was... well, the leaves weren't particularly enjoyable - she sampled a few but quickly decided that they probably weren't for eating.

 

Either that, or the pureblood had a really strange sense of taste.

 

She groaned: there was nothing useful here! Charcoal - no doubt for writing more books - and a little food... nothing that revealed anything about... well... anything!

[Aquaspark 14]

@@Pripyat Pony, "Lead me to the village if you will Glory. I am sure the rest of us will follow." She says with a small nod, trotting in the /COMPLETELY/ wrong direction. "Or I can lead us there I suppose, assuming I am going in the right direction."

 

She honestly has no idea where they are at.

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Aquaspark, @,
Glory led Artemis, Lykos and Aquaspark to the furthest reach of the town, far away from the forest edge where the ferals might come at any time. She eventually chose a discrepit but still standing building which in all likelihood had once been the town hall for them to stay in. Unlike a lot of the other buildings, the windows were intact and so was the upstairs.

 

@@Malinter,

 

One of the mares approached the giant stallion. "The prisoners are to be fed, right?" she asked. "Do you wish for them to be fed separately, or together?"

[Aquaspark 14]

@@Pripyat Pony, @, 

 

Aqua looks around whilst following Glory, Artemis, and Lykos. "A... building? On the edge of the forest? How in Celestia did this get here, and how is it still intact?" She mutters, lifting a hoof to prod a vase. "It should have been ransacked and or looted ages ago..."

[IridscentNionios 1,420]

@@Aquaspark,@@Pripyat Pony, @@Grapz224, As they arrived on the abandoned building artemis felt the paper she had been given pulsating with magic. As she read the message she decided to write back. 

"It is impossible for us to act so quickly... we just now found a hiding spot. I need you however to send me all the information you can... if this Equibane plant has a duration, a weak-ness, their camps having a weak-ness, a map, the numbers of the ferals on the camps. I will do what i can... but honestly don't get your hopes up. Too many of you got captured... i commend you on your valor but it is the same valor that is now making it harder for me to free you. I'm going to do what i can."

As she wrote back Lykos scouted the building. Treading carefully as not to fall upon anything broken or make too much noise. It was a surprise that this building wasn't hurt but also not so much...

"The Ferals would most likely not be interested in valuables or such. They would most likely be on the lookout for food on the farms and tools. The Town Hall posseses none of these, or at least not in abundance. The Ferals most likely drove all looters away with their territorial behavior. It is unlikely they would stay here... i am guessing if they did they would be far from their precious Equibane."

It was strange... what happened and the plant drove this place out of control? What happened to send these people away? Of course Glory had made her prediction about it but Lykos was interested in the details.

"It seems most likely that there would be at least one animal in this ecosystem that ate this plant and remained unaffected from it. The advancement of the ferals and the expansion of their society likely drove such a species away, i am willing to bet it is some sort of vermin-like creature, thus causing the shift of the balance in the natural course of this place. Miss Glory... do you believe we can concote a potion or create a spell that will counter the effects of the Equibane? Otherwise it is unlikely that something other than stealth will help us."