private ~* Feral Ponies *~ {RP}

[Malinter 3,064]

@@Pripyat Pony,

 

"Keep them together. Just make sure the warlock gets this one."

 

Malinter thought on for a moment. There was a chance the paranoid old pony would suspect something if his own meal were noticebly different. He'd need a something to occupy him while he ate... he knew what might get his attention.

 

He ordered the mare to wait there while he retrieved two books, one Mantorok would want the other he was sure his prisioners would want. One was his tome on changling texts concerning the nature of Rune magic and the sources upon which it called. The other. His own writings on the Nature of Equibane, it couldn't hurt if they had a better understanding of the plant.

 

"Also give them these." 

 

The mare bowed and took the items to the prisoners.

Edited April 4, 2014 by Malinter

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Aquaspark, @, "That's true enough," Glory replied. "Those who lived here before probably don't visit here that often; and the ferals wouldn't attach any value to what was left." In reply to Artemis, she said, "I don't know. I will have to read my books to see if there is anything there that can be perhaps adapted for our needs."

 

~~~

 

@, @@Malinter, @@Grapz224,

 

Wish supervised the feeding of the prisoners. She made sure that the doctored food was only given to the warlock, as per Malinter's instructions.

[Aquaspark 14]

@@Pripyat Pony, "A tribe of ponies not attaching value to valuables? Is this the stone age again, because last I checked everypony cared about some form of cash." She says with a snort. "Does this mean that... Cash is no longer of any value, or value has no real meaning now?" Aqua asks Glory slowly.

[Hive King 2,001]

Mantorok ate the food, noticing the runes in it. They were unrecognized and he decided he'd risk testing them. The magical defenses in his body would keep him safe in case they were bad. While he was somewhat right, he underestimated Equibane. While it would not kill him, it would cripple him for about a year, making him look dead

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Aquaspark, "I think that the ferals attach value to different things," Glory replied. "Like the Equibane. That's why we shouldn't just go all out and try and destroy it, cuz we could very well all end up dead if we did. I wonder if any of the ponies who lived here have living descendants? Since after they escaped, none got back to Equestria, they must have gotten somewhere. I wish I could see, but my visions don't come for the asking."

[Aquaspark 14]

@@Pripyat Pony, "You have visions Glory? That is quite a talent. Not many ponies who have visions are really truthful in the end. Hence all the fake fortune tellers and stuff." She says with a small sigh. "Sadly, I believe those are the old days. If what you say is true, the Feral's have taken over much of the land, and the ponies still alive are hidden away. I just hope they are safe in the end..." She mumbles. Aqua turns around and trots over to the nearest wall to sit. "I really wish I hadn't left for so long. Perhaps things could have been different in the end. I have no idea if my little sister is even around now. For all I know she could be d-d-d..."

 

Aqua starts to tear up, and slowly breaks down into a sobbing mess. It seems the guards Demeanor has finally broken down from all the stress, and the truth she now faces.

[IridscentNionios 1,420]

@@Aquaspark,@@Pripyat Pony,  Lykos was a bit surprised by the pony's reaction. He was approaching Aqua and put a hoof upon her back sympathetically. He sighed a bit as he attempted to calm her down. Her memories reminded him of his own suffering.

"Before i ended up with Artemis i was a proud leader of a wolf pack... We were assaulted and hunted by poachers for the worth of our fur. We were bound to end up is somepony's wardrobe... and i couldn't do anything from my cage but watch. I was the last one... but when i had given up hope Artemis came and freed me."

"That's right... i wasn't about to leave you lose hope." Lykos heard a voice from behind. It was Artemis who had been watching silently the scene not wanting to disturb them. "And i am not about to let anyone lose their loved ones. I should know... i lost my parents in the wild" she said showing the brack armbands in her front hooves reminders of a sorrow that would hunt her always. "But you... your sister might still be alive. I rarely give promises Aqua... but when this is all over... i will help you find her. However no matter what her fate is... you should always keep your head up. She loved you i am sure... or at least it sounds like it. But now other lives are in danger... other lives are ruined by the expansion of this feral tribe."

She sat next to her and Lykos calmly trying to make Aqua focus. "I am not asking you to forget you sorrow... i am asking that you to fight so that you have a chance to find her in the future. I'll certainly fight."

[Grapz224 137]

@, @@Pripyat Pony, @, 

 

Soul finished the drawing of the foals, and looked over at one of the ponies approaching him. It was the same one from before. Silently, she gave him some water and food. He gave her the drawing in return.

 

"Not my best work, but the surface you draw on affects the outcome... this came out to be very grainy, but oh well. I have seen you guarding this cage most often. May I ask your name? I am Soul. Retired Royal Guard for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Thank you very much for the fo-"

 

He stopped. He looked over at Mantorok, who had been given his food first. Mantorok seemed to be choking on something, and fell over after a minute or two. Soul rushed over to his body, and took his pulse. As far as he could tell, the old Warlock had died.

 

"What... What have you DONE!? We did nothing to you? And now you poison us? What cruel, heartless animals are you? do you have no soul?" He threw the food and water out of the cage, and grabbed onto the bars. "This... This is unacceptable! We come here in peace, not even for a day, and you try to kill us? Animals! un-trained Animals behave better than this! I could have taken wild cats, Griffons, Changelings, or even a manticore down on this mission, that's what I prepared for! Untrained Animals! Not ruthless killers!"

 

His magic was still focused on the picture. In a blind fury, he shred it to bits and threw it down onto the ground in front of the pony. He walked over to the remaining parchment and sat down. Reading Artemis's letter, he erased it, sending only 3 words in reply.

 

"They Killed Him"

Edited April 8, 2014 by Grapz224

[Hive King 2,001]

Mantorok could feel pain surging through his body, the runes colliding. The monster sealed inside of him as a failsafe began to tear free. Mantorok reined it in, realizing how much of a bounty this was. If everyone thought he was dead, he'd be free to experiment as wanted. He let himself fall into a coma, smirking a bit as he did

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@, @@Aquaspark, Glory put a foreleg around Aquaspark's shoulders and held her to her in a hug. "Artemis is right," she said. "We will help you all we can, but we must put sorrow aside for the moment. I can't even begin to understand how you feel, as I have never lost anyone I cared about, but if you want to let it all out, I will listen."

 

@@Grapz224, Wish stared stonily back at Soul. "The orders came from the leaders of the herd," she replied. "Refuse food if you must, but it won't make your life any easier." She turned to two other mares. "Take the warlock's body out of the cage," she said. "Put it in another cage. The wild cats will not be feasting on his remains. The cage will keep his body away from them."

[Hive King 2,001]

@@Pripyat Pony,

Even comatose, Mantorok found ways to be annoying. While the shock of Equibane had put him in a coma, it had also healed him. Unfortunately, all the rotten flesh in his body was now being expelled, resulting in a rancid smell as several years worth of rotten flesh spilled out, coating Mantorok in a vile stench 

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@, The mares wrapped the warlock's stinking body up tightly in leaves, til it was completely covered, then, enclosing it in the the cage as Wish had requested, they carried it into the forest to hang from a tree. This was the traditional way to deal with Outsiders who died while in captivity.

[Grapz224 137]

@@Pripyat Pony, 

 

Soul stared at the Pony. How could one be so... used to the killing of their own kind? He looked at the shards of paper on the ground. He had worked hard on it, and was saddened to see it ruined.

 

Then he caught the smell. Mantorok's body was emitting the foul stench of Rot and Decay. 'That's not possible' He thought. He had seen wars, and even with so many dead bodies, they did not begin to rot away for a few hours. The Warlock had a trick up his sleeve. What it was, Soul had no idea. 'Either way, they think he is dead. They'll only kill him again by disposing of his "Dead" body...'

 

He shook away the thoughts. The Warlock was on his own, any attempts to save his fading life would draw suspicion. There was nothing soul could do to help.

 

"What do you Ferals plan on putting his body? Or do you plan on eating him? after all, he is now tainted with that Equibane you so desire..."

Edited April 9, 2014 by Grapz224

[IridscentNionios 1,420]

@@Pripyat Pony,@@Grapz224, @@Aquaspark, "Excuse me a moment..." she moved away unwrapping the magical paper. What she saw made her freeze. One of them had died? Wait a minute... why... 

"What happened? How did this pony die? Who was it?" she wrote back. What in Equestria's name did the ferals do to them? Nevertheless they had to get going and she was soon back with the group with an expression that betrayed nothing of what she had read before.

"I think i've found a storage area below. We could store things there. I could mask the entrance. It would also be good to have any windows masked in case anyone decides to look this way. Soul Guardian gave me a piece of magical paper by the way... we can communicate with the others if we want to. Just say the word and i'll send a message to them. It'll be a nice way to have inside information about what the ferals are doing."
 

@@Pripyat Pony,@@Grapz224, @@Aquaspark, "Excuse me a moment..." she moved away unwrapping the magical paper. What she saw made her freeze. One of them had died? Wait a minute... why... 

"What happened? How did this pony die? Who was it?" she wrote back. What in Equestria's name did the ferals do to them? Nevertheless they had to get going and she was soon back with the group with an expression that betrayed nothing of what she had read before.

"I think i've found a storage area below. We could store things there. I could mask the entrance. It would also be good to have any windows masked in case anyone decides to look this way. Soul Guardian gave me a piece of magical paper by the way... we can communicate with the others if we want to. Just say the word and i'll send a message to them. It'll be a nice way to have inside information about what the ferals are doing."

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Grapz224, Wish fixed Soul with a hard stare. "We do not do such things," she replied, coldly. "We will simply hang your companion's body from the trees, as is traditional for outsiders who die in captivity." She said nothing more. The bodies of ferals who died were buried in the earth, so that the Equibane could draw strength from them; continuing the circle of life. Any outsiders who were executed were burned.

 

@, @@Aquaspark, Glory nodded. "If need be, we could fly from the top of the building, carrying Aqua between us," she said. "The ability to fly is our one strength against the ferals, who can't fly."

[Aquaspark 14]

@,@@Pripyat Pony, The mare slowly begins to regain some of her composure. "My family, my... friends. Where could they be now exactly? Where would they be if not with the Ferals?" She asks Glory and Artemis.

 

A brief memory comes back momentarily to haunt her. "What if they tortured or even killed the only pony I loved..."

 

Her horn starts to glow as the sound of incessant rumbling can be heard. "What if they killed my parents, or my sister. My friends...!" Her eyes begin to glow, and precipitation spills through the ground seemingly from within the earth itself.

 

"I will destroy... DESTROY THOSE WHO HURT MY FRIENDS!" *GAAAAASP!* She lurches forward onto the floor right as a gigantic pool of water spews forth from the earth. A small tentacle made of pure liquid attempts to raise itself out of the pool, but melts back in. After that, the pool remains and everything is quiet. As quiet as a shocked silence can be.

 

"..." She just lies there motionless, but still breathing. Aqua was about to lose control, but stopped herself. Hopefully no explaining as to what just happened will need to be done. 

Edited April 10, 2014 by Aquaspark

[Malinter 3,064]

@@Grapz224, @,@@Pripyat Pony,

 

Malinter looked on as they took the 'corpse' of Mantorok away, he'd slipped into a coma just as he had predicted. It was the only method he could come up with that had any chance not not killing the frail old buzzard outright. No doubt the old fool as in a dreamland, smirking at his genius of escaping the village. Once he wakes from the coma, the nightmare begins. He'll be begging for help, the primary equibane transformation is usually the most intense, the possiblity of him going feral was always a possibility. They'd have to see how the plant changed him when he was ready...

 

Malinter turned his attention to the other pony in the same cell.

 

"So? Little pony. What do we call you?" he asked.

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Aquaspark, "Don't do anything regretful," Glory urged. "Perhaps she escaped. Maybe she's with the ponies who escaped from the frontier town. If I get any visions about what happened to your sister, I will tell you at once. One might come to me as I sleep."

 

Glory desperately hoped so. She really wanted to help this pony.

[Grapz224 137]

@@Malinter, @@Pripyat Pony,

 

 

"A forgetful Leader, I see. Do you not remember me, Malinter? It was only a few hours ago, and I do not know what that Equibane does to one's head. But I am Soul Survivor. Royal Guard to Princesses Celestia and Luna."

 

Soul looked at Glory, and responded to her Question. "Well, I wouldn't put it past this group of savages to devour their own kind. I just wanted to confirm. I never did get your name, by the way."

[Malinter 3,064]

@@Grapz224,

 

"Rather ironic name, given your situation." he chucked ruefully.

 

"However I think it maybe Her Highness who has forgotten. Perhaps she has forgotten about me and my final message I sent before I became... different..."

 

He shoved the tome on his Equibane research though the bars. 

 

"Read it, Soul. Read it and ask yourself why your benevolent princess would want with such a vile blossom. I'm sure you'll agree as I did that such a flower should never bloom on Equestrian soil. " 

 

He turned to leave.

 

"Till we meet again... Little Pony..." he chuckled and slowly trotted away.

[Aquaspark 14]

@@Pripyat Pony, She just mumbles something in response, her mind in a sort of semi-conscious state. Due to her current demeanor, it is not much easier to closely study her. Scars crisscross along her back, and her mane and tail are slightly shriveled up due to some sort of fire. The tips of just about everything on her is singed.

[Grapz224 137]

@Everypony

 

Soul looked at the book at his feet. opening it up, he began to skip the dusty pages. Drawings of the plant, the old team, the book documented everything. He moved to the last page, there, a letter fell out, leaving Soul to look at a blank page. Opening the letter, he began to read.

 

"Dear Princess Celestia

   I can't do it anymore. I fear they are going to force the plant down my throat. The others have become too wild to co-operate. They do not listen to reason anymore. I am sending this not in hopes of a rescue team. I am asking you to stay away! this plant must never become something available to anypony. please, stay away!

I am running out of ink, this will be my last letter.

Sincerely, Malin~"

 

Skimming the rest of the book, Soul looked at the properties of the plant, taking notes onto the magical parchment as he did so.

 

When he was done, he saw the message from Artemis. Reading it, he started his reply.

"Artemis, Mantorok is Dead. they forced the Equibane down his throat. I am going to ask them if they will allow me to leave. If they do, I will meet you and anypony else who escaped at the old town. Do not call for reinforcements. Malinter, their leader, gave me a book on Equibanes properties, and what happened to the old research group. I cannot stress this enough, but they are right. The plant is one of the most evil things I have ever seen. I am not going to eat or drink, because they are used to poisoning prisoners, and if they kill me, Artemis, show the princess this."

Soul copied down Malinters letter, then sent the message.

 

With that complete, he had only one thing to do. He turned to the pony guarding the cage.

"Miss... whatever your name is. will you let me leave? I have important things I need to do, and I do not plan on taking your Equibane anymore. Malinter showed me the horrid properties of the plant, and I just wish to leave now."

Edited April 11, 2014 by Grapz224

[IridscentNionios 1,420]

@@Aquaspark, @@Grapz224, @@Pripyat Pony, Artemis after surpassing her initial surprise at the fact that Aquaspark had cast some incredible magic in front of her she slowly trotted her way... Suddenly she grabbed Aqua by her shoulders and shook her a couple of times.@@Grapz224, She ignored for the moment the heating note.

"WAKE UP!!! We can't afford to lose! Not right now! Keep your head together! If you continue this way you are going to hurt even those that are left! There are lives that depend upon us! If you can't get a hold of yourself more are going to be added to the deathcount of the ferals! THIS NEEDS TO STOP! And for that we need you focused!"

Lykos just stood there grunting on the inside. This was bad... they needed self control more than ever now. If not... they were a lost cause...

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Grapz224, Wish sighed. "I'm afraid I can't make that decision," she replied. "It will be up to the leader to decide whether or not you can go. Lightning is unlikely to agree, but he will consult with Malinter before coming to a decision so perhaps if you can persuade him to speak for you... you might stand a chance."

[Aquaspark 14]

@,@@Pripyat Pony,  "S-S-Stop the shaaaaaking!" Aqua says with a wobbly voice, still completely derped out. "I think... I am going to be sick of this continues...!" 6_9

 

She fires a random bolt of water at a wall, completely blasting a hole through it. Sort of like a high powered water jet!