Dawn and Dusk - a My Little Pony Roleplay (RP thread)

[Waaaghpower]

Thunder Bolt yawned, stretching her wings and glancing to the sky for a moment, before she saw what she was looking for. Taking the air, she nabbed a small, soft looking cloud, steering it down to the camp and fluffing it up a bit before lying down, curling up ready to rest when she heard Backlash's request coming back to the camp, looked up, and seeing the gross wound on Plumber's leg. "Ew," she commented, wrinkling her muzzle. "Wh-what happened to you?"

[kingofmonkeys]

Plumber stared at the ground nervously as Thunder spoke to him

"Oh umm got hurt a few days ago... bit infected now.. nothing to bad."

He tried to smile up at her briefly before returning to staring at the ground.

[HectorSmash]

Backlash led Plumber into the forest, pointing out different plants every few steps and guiding him through the brush. Only a few minutes after they had left the clearing, she pointed out a marshy glade.

"Oh, perfect!" She spread her wings and took a little glide towards an overgrown, hollowed-out log. As they approached, a sweet scent began to waft through the air. "Look here! Innis log... marrentill!" She reached into the log and, after foraging for a moment, pulled out a small anther.

"This thing should have enough pollen for your cut. And..." She tore a tough-looking pod off a vine and shook it gently, causing some kind of slime to fly off, before handing it to Plumber. "The pod! Aaaand!" She pointed at a small bush full of honeysuckle flowers a few feet away. "If we dig through that, we should get enough nectar to make a base for the cleaner."

[Waaaghpower]

Thunder Bolt shrugged as they left, yawning and returning to her cloud before curling up, tucking a bit of cloud over herself as a blanket, and dozing off to sleep.

[kingofmonkeys]

plumber eyed the bush for a moment.
"so.. the flowers? roots umm.. which part should I get?"
he eyed the trees nervously listening intently
"how'd you learn all this?"

[Mabbz]

"Oh, I lived in the wilderness for a lot of my youth," Backlash replied as she showed Plumber how to retrieve the nectar and began dressing the wound. Once it was done the duo returned to the others to get some rest.

After lunch, the ponies packed up ready to leave. While everypony was busy, Hazy found a few rocks and focused. He was trying to make fake copies of the four Elements they still had so that he could switch them and make sure they couldn't be stolen. Unfortunately, he couldn't get the illusion to hold properly without him maintaining it. With a groan, he gave up.

They weren't going to reach Everfree city before sunset, but they wouldn't be far off. Trudging through the forest was quite boring; they were a large group so most animals avoided them. That didn't stop Plumber looking around nervously the whole time. So of course, an hour or so before dusk, he was the first to spot the cave in the rock face they were walking past. He waas also the first to hear the growling and darted away, yelling "look out!". A tremendous roar shook the ground as everypony faced the opening and saw the manticore snarling at them, ready to pounce.

[Mabbz]

Nightmare Sky's felt a brief jolt of alarm at the sight of the beast. It quickly passed though, as she remembered that she was being protected by eight ponies whose safety she cared nothing for. She certainly wasn't going to risk her fur for them; in fact she might be able to make this work to her advantage...

Weapons were drawn all around Backlash. The situation could turn bad very quickly. Still, it was just a wild beast; they had probably just accidentally stumbled into its territory. If they backed up quietly, they might be able to get away without a fight. She opened her mouth to order everypony to retreat.

Suddenly, a piercing shriek echoed through the forest as Thunder zoomed up a tree. Backlash's eyes shrank to pinpricks at the sound, terrified that the manticore would attack. Fortunately it seemed just as alarmed by the sound as she was; it retreated a step back into the cave and sank lower to the ground, still growling. Quickly taking the initiative, Backlash whispered as loudly as she dared. "Back up slowly, no noise."

The ponies did as instructed with Thunder climbing down to join them. For one heart-stopping moment, Plumber tripped and nearly fell, but Swift Shadow caught him. The manticore's growls rose in volume, but otherwise it didn't react. Just before they got out of sight, they saw a second, slightly smaller manticore step up next to the first. Fortunately, they didn't follow.

A few minutes passed in silence before they reached a clearing. "Well that was thrilling," Cloudy Daze chuckled weakly, breaking the silence.

[Narric]

Cynder resheathed his sword, and started walking again, but slowed so he was closer to the back. He kept his ears up in case the Manticore changed its mind.

[HectorSmash]

Backlash swallowed the lump in her throat and sighed out some of the tension. "What the heck was that screech? Was that you, Thunder?" she asked, even though she half-knew the answer already.

[Waaaghpower]

"S-sorry," Thunder Bolt said, blushing a bit and hanging her head. "I'm, uh... Not good around big cats. It's... a long story." Following along quietly for a moment before she added, "Er... That was smart thinking back there."

[HectorSmash]

Backlash let a grin crack across her face.

"I dunno about smart... but hey, one way or another we didn't have to go hoof-to-hoof with the poor creatures. No blood. That's a win to me."

[kingofmonkeys]

Plumber glanced around eying the forest with suspicion half expecting the manticore to come back. His heart hammered in his chest and his breathing was fast and shallow as adrenaline coursed through him. With an effort he calmed himself down a bit before speaking.
"you think it's gone?"

[Narric]

"We're heading away from it" Cynder replied. "I'm sure if it was going to attack us, it would have already. I just hope we don't trip over a cockatrice or worse."



Cloudy Daze had somehow ended up next to Backlash.
"If there were any around, i'm sure the Manticore would have already been stone." He spoke up.

[HectorSmash]

Backlash blinked and gave Cloudy a sidelong look. She thrust her chin out a little, smiled, and countered, "I can tell you, from years of experience out here, no cockatrice would ever risk its life against a big beast like a manticore. Especially not one with a family. Nothin' for the poor bird to gain."

[Mabbz]

The group stood awkwardly for a few more moments, mostly lost in their own thoughts of the close encounter. At length, Hazy roused himself. "Better get moving. I don't want to be in this forest any longer than we have to." The ponies got back to the tedium of walking through the forest. As the day wore on and the shadows lengthened, everypony was relieved to not run into any more danger. Unfortunately, the sun was setting and the team group still hadn't reached the city.

Cloudy flew above the treeline to check their position. A few minutes later, he dropped back down again. "We've still got a good two hours walk until we reach the city," he explained. "We can either make the trek in the dark, or we can stop for the night and get their in the morning."