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Post by Moxie on Sept 24, 2015 17:08:48 GMT
Moxie looked between the two, slightly intimidated by their deep conversation. Her feelings about the war were more surface then that. She was simply against it because the things she held dearest were ripped away from her, the princesses as her mentors being one of them, and her home and companion as the other. There wasn't anyway she could get them back now... and she preferred to not over-think the war. What could she do anyways? she was simply a regular and frail pegasus mare now without her paint.
She gave a small leap and jumped into the air, hovering above them with a sad smile. "Let's take this to the sky, sounds like we all need to clear our minds with some fresh air right now."
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Pumpkin Vine
Junior Member
Camp New Hayven Refugee: Main Defense Trainer and Combat Leader.
Posts: 54
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Post by Pumpkin Vine on Sept 26, 2015 21:46:22 GMT
Flapping her wings slowly, each feather remained in unison, lifting the light colored tan mare up with much ease. Hovering off of the cave entrance, their destination was not yet clear, but their duty to ensure peace was confirmed. Shifting her burnt orange orbs to the dark blue stallion at his words, it seemed everyone had their own opinions and beliefs. His were interesting, assuming a small camp force could defeat an entire equestrian army. Still, his words were hopeful to some. Like a fictitious being powerful enough to rule over them all, it was a hoax, but one that kept others from giving up. It kept allies at peace, life at a stand still, and suicides down through it all. Eventually, the reality of the real world would come into play, but would they be ready? Only time would tell. Turning to Moxie, the wise and old mare had offered a small smile.
"Fresh air clears the dreary thoughts away. A watch from the skies should do all that. Thank you for allowing me to join in on your flight."
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Post by Flux on Sept 26, 2015 22:59:23 GMT
Flux had no intention of being rude to the mares in his company, but seeing them lift off the ground had gotten his own feathers twitching in anticipation and he felt the instinctual urge to fly pushing through his mind. He leaned back on his hind legs and forced his strong muscles to push away from the dirt as his wings flapped, sending him spiraling up through the trees around them, the blue sky overhead all that he could focus on.
He burst through the treetops and into the open sky, stopping his spin and simply hovering as he faced away from the mountains and back toward the rest of the country. He couldn't see the ravages of the war from here and being so far into the mountains couldn't see much past them anyway, but he knew it was there. Knew it was waiting for them. As he studied the horizon an idea began to take root in his mind and he narrowed his eyes slightly in thought, though he shook his head and refocused on the current task as the other two made it up and above the forest.
"Where to?" he asked as he looked down at Moxie.
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Post by Moxie on Sept 30, 2015 15:34:55 GMT
Moxie smiled to both of the ponies that joined her in the air, her tight chest easing a bit. Being in the air made her feel better just knowing the thrill of flying would soon fill her. She glanced around and pointed down the mountain. "Crater Lake is the next place needing a patrol as of this morning. Shall we?"
She gave her delicate yellow wings a flap and moved off in the lead. She was the most senior camper in the group with perimeter patrol experience, and she quickly fell into the role, giving her comfort in its familiarity. At least out here not much felt unpredictable and out of her hooves. Out here, she almost felt like she was home... but she couldn't help but feel that pain in her chest with every little reminder that she wasn't. The tallest mountain was to the east and not the west.... Forest was not running bellow.... The green of the trees were slightly lighter in hue than the dark Everfree foliage... She sighed, now taking them away from Celestia's Gate and towards the denser part of the lower forest that rose to meet the caves, and said back to the others. "It's so beautiful but so... different still."
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Pumpkin Vine
Junior Member
Camp New Hayven Refugee: Main Defense Trainer and Combat Leader.
Posts: 54
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Post by Pumpkin Vine on Oct 2, 2015 16:40:25 GMT
Following with ease, the older mare had tilted her wings to glide into the wind with a natural sway. Keeping herself somewhat back yet able to hear and speak with them successfully, the tall sky line of the tree's had been just as she remembered. It was looked enchanting for something to grow that high. Still, with forests around, who knows what could be lurking down below. Keeping her eyes peeled for anything suspicious, she was trained in the early days to spot check creatures in tree's. While the dirt ground was severely important, glancing into the hiding places of most of her kind and other creatures was a great strategy for being a look out. Usually on night watch, it was very different to see the sun shining above them in the sky. Noting the mare's hesitation in her words, Pumpkin tried to lighten the mood.
"Sometimes different can be a good thing. Nature finds a way to grow big and beautiful without us. It's amazing."
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Post by Flux on Oct 2, 2015 18:05:35 GMT
"Perhaps it is not nature that's different, but us," Flux said, his thoughts escaping. "The Earth was here long before any of us, and will remain when we are nothing but memories. Ponies shouldn't try to bend nature, but rather to live in it in the way that it allows us. Life is like a big give-and-take game.." He trailed off, not exactly sure how voicing what was in his head was going to help anything of the current situation, but given that speaking his mind not too long ago had helped he didn't try to keep it in.
It seemed like the mountain's forests were holding them up; the air under his wings felt so uplifting he thought he could fly forever. A glance at the horizon taunted him with the thought that he could do simply that...but as he pulled his attention back he was reminded why he stayed.
He shook his head slightly, putting such thoughts away for now as he took a deep breath and scanned the area below them as they flew. "So what's your story, Pumpkin? How'd someone like you end up here?"
[Exit Flux to Crater Lake]
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Post by Moxie on Oct 6, 2015 20:08:12 GMT
Moxie's ears perked at Flux's question. She had known Pumpkin ever since she had come to the caves three years ago, and the mare had been here even longer then she. However, she never truly knew the story behind what brought her here besides general gossip, and even that she didnt put much faith in for the truth. The camp always had gossip that seemed completely made up. She had learned not to rely much on what she heard through the grapevine anymore.
Angling her ears back to listen, she guided them onwards toward Crater Lake down the mountain side.
[Exit Moxie to Crater Lake]
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Pumpkin Vine
Junior Member
Camp New Hayven Refugee: Main Defense Trainer and Combat Leader.
Posts: 54
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Post by Pumpkin Vine on Oct 8, 2015 2:03:20 GMT
Tuning into the stallion's speech on nature, his opinion on life was not one she would consider rational. Judging by his body stature, he was obviously well built to defend. But from her angle, he was also very deep and mysterious to the naked eye. Observing this within minutes of being near this pony, his voice cracked at being saddened. While there were a lot of creatures at the camp that felt depressed on life, it was not that simple to his reasoning's, or so she guessed. He was intricate and if she didn't see him today, Pumpkin would have sworn he was a loner. Watching Moxie start to sway towards the lake, the duo colored pegasus followed through.
"It shall wait I suppose."
[Exit Pumpkin Vine to Crater Lake]
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Post by Flux on Oct 26, 2015 6:38:37 GMT
[Enter Flux from Crater Lake]
Using his wings to give himself the last boost he needed to get up to the cave that led to the inside of the camp, Flux looked around the entrance for sign of Moxie. He admired her ability to so easily trust this stranger, but would have liked to talk to her a little before the others arrived. He leaned against the rock siding to catch his breath when he realized that she was gone. She'd probably raced ahead to inform the proper ponies of how events had turned out; he'd simply have to track her down later. Waiting for the other two ponies to arrive gave him time enough to think of ways he could "encourage" this newcomer that betraying them was a bad idea, though he wasn't sure he'd have to employ them.
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Post by Tarascha Terastari on Oct 27, 2015 10:02:50 GMT
[Enter Tarascha from Crater Lake]
Some time later, the earth pony had finally managed to get all the way to the caves, following Flux's and Moxie's traces while also making sure Pumpkin was still behind him. This whole journey took him a little longer as he chose a slightly slower pace than most ponies would take. This was, of course, thanks to his crippled leg but it seemed like nopony had noticed a thing yet. After all, that was why his leg was hidden under the cloak at all times.
He was panting somewhat heavily and stopped a few steps away from Flux to catch his breath. He had tried to memorize the whole way from the Crater Lake to this place in case he might need to get back again. Who might say what these ponies were hiding in there? A little, dirty camp or a big, magnificent hideout. Tara really wanted to know and looked over to the male pegasus called Flux. "So. Is that it? Are we there or is another climb in order?"
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Post by Flux on Oct 27, 2015 20:06:33 GMT
Though the path didn't seem to be all that difficult as he was guided by the three pegasi, the camp was well-hidden for a reason, and Tara would most likely end up back at the lake entirely by accident if he did so at all. The young scout took a breath and turned back to face the cloaked pony. He tried to keep his voice level and as neutral as possible while still being firm.
"We're getting closer," he said, unwilling to say where it actually was until he could be certain about this stallion. "And though Moxie trusts you, I'll not bring a threat into this camp and risk lives. Take off your cloak."
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Post by Tarascha Terastari on Oct 27, 2015 21:32:04 GMT
The young earth pony let out a groan, more annoyed than anything else and shook his head slowly, his emerald green eyes looking directly at the pegasus stallion, studying him. He stayed where he had stopped before, frowning under his dark hood. He wasn't sure what to answer to that. He had expected questions or a search but not this. The last time he put his cloak down was when he cleaned himself on his trip to the lake a few days ago when nopony was around.
He wasn't sure how scruffy and dirty he looked underneath the cloak and he sure wasn't interested in showing these ponies his leg and such, marking him as easy prey. "I'd rather not, Flux. Your friend and probably even you and that other mare saw me without the hood. Isn't that enough? And shouldn't we hurry for the beaver's sake?"
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Post by Flux on Oct 28, 2015 7:04:33 GMT
It wasn't his style, and he hated capitalizing on a creature's misfortune to bring about his own ends, but Flux saw no other option than to play one of the few cards he had. "Then for the beaver's sake you'd better get to it," he said, keeping his voice stony and fighting the urge to simply take the animal to Moon and come back for the pony later.
He sighed and rubbed his forehead with a hoof. "Look, I want to trust you, I really do, but it doesn't matter what I want when the well-being of...other ponies may be affected by what I do," he said, catching himself before giving this traveler an idea of how many ponies were really up here.
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Post by Tarascha Terastari on Oct 28, 2015 11:20:04 GMT
Tarascha growled quietly to himself, sounding closely like a timber wolf would but nodded in agreement after some seconds. He really didn't want to do this at all. But there was no other choice for him than to accept and get over with it. At least he would try to make the pegasus feel guilty for this. "If you want to use this animals misfortune for your own good, then fine. But I won't stall more time and put the beaver in more pain then he already has."
Even while he was still speaking, he began to lower his hood and open the leather strap around his neck that kept the cloak on him and looked at Flux with a clearly unhappy but also strangely childlike pout on his face.
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Post by Flux on Oct 29, 2015 21:23:21 GMT
Careful eyes watched the pony, and though it wouldn't show Flux's body was tensed and ready to ready to spring into action at a moment's notice; Tarascha could have used his movements to try and surprise him, and without knowing what tricks the earth pony had up his cloak he wasn't about to take any chances. He waited several paces away until the cloak was taken fully off.
"Lay it out on the ground and step away," he said, not giving Tara the satisfaction of using leverage here. "This can go as easily as you want it to, but be quite certain that you'll not see our home until you pass."
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Post by Tarascha Terastari on Oct 29, 2015 23:13:48 GMT
The young earth pony gently placed the cloak and such, also the beaver on the ground and stepped away from the cloak to let Flux inspect him. The first thing the pegasus could notice about him was that he was indeed, pretty young. His face and posture would scream that out to anypony watching him. The next thing would be, that his mane, tail and his coat all seemed to be in a very good condition. A little scruffy at the moment, after traveling for several days but otherwise well cared for and unusually clean.
Tarascha tried to stay calm but couldn't help but shuffle his hooves around a little, wincing when his crooked back leg was dragged over the ground roughly by his mindless actions. And it would be fairly obvious that his leg was not in a good condition. It was bend in a weird angle and just touched the ground with the tip of the hoof, carrying as little weight of the pony attached to the leg as possible.
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Pumpkin Vine
Junior Member
Camp New Hayven Refugee: Main Defense Trainer and Combat Leader.
Posts: 54
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Post by Pumpkin Vine on Oct 30, 2015 2:35:07 GMT
[Enter Pumpkin Vine]
Catching up to them and lagging slightly, Pumpkin Vine's eyes never stopped checking for followers. Through the skies and below, the coast was clear for the time being, making her way to the trio. Entering the entrance and over hearing this nonsense, a roll of the eyes was but a step away. Inching closer, a bottle of water was pulled out of her saddle bag pocket before clearing her throat and offering it to the weakened stallion in need. Coming up behind him, her noise should have been enough to keep the pony from becoming spooked, all the more reason to speak at this time.
"You must drink. You are hurt, how did it come to be?"
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Post by Flux on Oct 30, 2015 16:32:43 GMT
Flux had a surprised look as Tara's hurt leg was revealed; the earth pony had hid it well. However, that wasn't always the best thing to do when in need of medical help, especially out here in mountains. He was glad that Pumpkin had offered some water, as he didn't want to reveal the workings of his duster to a stranger. He kept his ears perked to what the question's answer would be as he reached down and began carefully searching the cloak, looking especially for any weapons.
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Post by Tarascha Terastari on Oct 30, 2015 17:51:24 GMT
Tarascha still had his halfway annoyed, halfway cute look on his face as he shook his head at the mares offer, refusing the water right away. He turned his head to look at the female pegasus and her bottle to show his negativ feelings. He tried to hide his leg from the other two ponies as good as possible with his other back leg and surpressed another little hiss of pain. "This injury is an old one. It happened years ago and I'm surviving just fine, even with one useless leg." In truth, he tried to sound a lot more impressive than he really was so the ponies wouldn't pity him.
There would a lot of hidden pockets everywhere on the cloak and each one of them was filled with either plants, leaves of plants, little darts or knives and one or two little glass phials with different coloured liquidsinside them. There was also one pocket filled with rocks for some reason and some bits hidden between the leaves or the rocks. The most special thing though would be two leather strips that Tara had opened as well when he had put down his cloak. These two leather strips held about 5 little throwing knives made out of steel with a wodden grip. They had a very intense and acidic smell to them.
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Post by Flux on Nov 2, 2015 20:00:35 GMT
Thoroughly inspecting the cloak's folds and pockets revealed that this pony probably knew his way around single travel quite well, and he still had some sense about him to refuse the water, probably suspecting drugs. Flux turned out leaves, an assortment of smaller weapons for personal protection, money scattered throughout (which was smart on the traveler's case, as he could empty out a pocket for a robber but not give all that he had), some of what he assumed were brewed potions, and...rocks? He shook his head and continued, but stopped short when he encountered the knives.
He kept his cool, though was very careful with the instruments, and also subtly watched the pony. Flux himself had faked injuries before; he wasn't going to be surprised by someone pulling that on him. The throwing knives had the smell of a poison he almost recognized, as if it had been modified...though for better or for worse there was no way to know. He picked up a nearby stick from the ground and used it to poke one of the blades out of the leather, only confirming what he suspected. He separated the weapons out into their own little pile and leaving everything else in the cloak where it was.
"Our doctor can probably help both of you, but you can't go into the camp with these. If you want to see him I will keep them secure and they will be returned to you in the exact condition they are now."
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Post by Tarascha Terastari on Nov 9, 2015 17:08:35 GMT
Tara cringed upon hearing the news, having hoped the pegasus would let him keep his main way of defence against any danger and threat. Without these, he would be completely defenseless against whatever the world might be throwing at him. Beasts. Other ponies. Traps. Though...now that he thought about it, if this sanctuary was actually a good camp, he might not need them inside of there at least. Take some time out in peace instead of running. He shivered right away once he thought again of the horrible things he saw back in OurTown.
"I may agree to that. As long as I can keep my cloak on inside your precious, little sanctuary. I'm clearly no danger to anypony without those little beauties. So this is merely a matter of politeness." He pointed at the knifes when he mentioned them as his little beauties and looked back up to Flux, feeling more and more nervous without his cloak on. He just felt naked. Well, ponies weren't usually wearing clothes anyway but he had grown quite close to the piece of clothing.
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Post by Flux on Nov 11, 2015 22:33:26 GMT
The stallion nodded, carefully gathering the assorted weapons into a small, sturdy sack he retrieved from his duster. He slung it over his back; he wasn't willing to show the storage enchantment on the article to a stranger quite yet. At this point he'd removed as much of the threat as he could from this new pony, and he picked up the cloak and hooved it back over.
"That's fine. I'll hold on to these for now," he said with a gesture to the sack. "You'll get them back in due time, otherwise come find me and we'll work something out. And with that out of the way, welcome to Camp New Hayven."
A big perk to living in the forest as they did was all the natural camouflage, but sometimes all it took was a wall. As Flux led the way around the corner of the stone outcropping Tara would see that they had stopped just outside the camp's main entrance. The cave was hidden from where they were but now it revealed itself to be merely a few dozen steps away, and if a pony focused they could just hear the faint din of life deep within it.
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Post by Tarascha Terastari on Nov 14, 2015 11:37:15 GMT
Upon recieving his cloak back, Tara put it on right away in a quick motion, strapping the leather straps tightly around his legs and neck to hide all of his body again. It felt a little wrong with the weight of his favourite weapons missing now, but he had to pull through until he got them back. Sooner or later, this Flux guy would have to return them. At least when Tara would leave the camp, this pegasus stallion would be forced to give them back to him. That, he was sure of.
What he was not sure of though was, how perfectly the cave had been hidden and how he could have missed this. During the whole converation, he had just been a few steps away from their oh so precious camp. "New Hayven? Huh, even after the world had been plunged into war, ponies still can't resist to make puns out of every name." He muttered this mostly to himself but also loud enough so Flux could hear him talk.
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Post by Flux on Nov 18, 2015 22:49:28 GMT
"It's tradition," the stallion chuckled as they moved. "Besides, in this new world you have to make your own humor, because you certainly won't find it out there in the wastes."
He led the trio back down into their home, walking on the rocky ground rather than flying so that Tara would be able to match the stable path he took. In addition to being well-hidden, the entrance of the cave was unmarked by built structures to look as natural as possible, and the system of mirrors and focusing glass that ported sunlight to even the deepest cavern of the camp wasn't visible until they were a short distance inside. Only when it was did a cleaner path appear, the stone showing signs of wear from the multitude of hooves passing over it. The paths throughout the system of caves never truly smoothed out, but when they reached the main crossroads at the bottom of the entrance there were far less bumps and rough areas.
"So...I guess we should get to the medical bay, yes?" he asked with a glance at the grey pony. "Unless there's something else you need that's more pressing?"
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Post by Tarascha Terastari on Nov 22, 2015 20:29:36 GMT
Tara glanced around and took the sight of this whole thing in. He had do admit. This was well hidden. Heck, this was perfectly hidden. He would have never found his way into this place without any help from ponies that knew the way already. A perfect hideout for refugees and anypony who wanted to disappear. He actually slightly pulled his hood away from his face to take a better look around. Even if it was hidden that well, he still would try to memorize this place if he ever came around these parts of Equestria again and needed a place to stay...if he would ever be able to leave that camp that is. He still didn't know if these ponies were truly just refugees or damn good actors.
"Medical bay sounds pretty good to me. I'll just look around while we go there. Maybe afterwards I'll take a longer walk around this place."
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Pumpkin Vine
Junior Member
Camp New Hayven Refugee: Main Defense Trainer and Combat Leader.
Posts: 54
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Post by Pumpkin Vine on Nov 23, 2015 14:25:18 GMT
Burnt orange eyes watched the interactions continue as she walked forward. Not having much to say without a rude comment, the amazon chose.to stay quiet. Questioning whether or not they really.needed another stallion in their mist, a part of the mare felt she was beginning to sound alittle cold hearted. Perhaps if he was more sincere and kind, she would have treated him with a more subtle approach. He wasn't screaming in pain, nor did he seem like a victim, this didn't sound good in her ears. Or maybe, she was just too judgemental after the war? Either way, their leader needed to hear the news, and she planned on bringing it up to him quickly. Opening up her wings, they soon flapped lightly as hooves hovered above the air.
"You seem to have this covered Flux, I'll check up later. Going to inform." Lifting off, Pumpkin Vine took off into the caves.
[Exit Pumpkin Vine]
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Post by Flux on Nov 24, 2015 23:35:46 GMT
Flux was sure that Pumpkin was feeling the same as him. Everything about this seemed to be going way too smoothly; the lack of red flags was a giant one itself. However, he was sure that simply going with what was happening was the best way to stay on top of any negative plans that showed themselves. He thanked Pumpkin before turning back to the traveler.
"Well, such as it is, it is," he said. "This way." He selected one of the tunnels and began walking down it, never letting Tara get too far away from him. The pegasus would release him into Moonlight's care, but until then whatever happened to or from this new pony was his responsibility, and he would not let his home be compromised due to lack of supervision.
[Exit Flux to Medical Grotto]
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Post by Moxie on Nov 27, 2015 19:26:45 GMT
Moxie had been called away abruptly upon her entrance into the commons. Knowing Pumpkin and Flux could care for the newcomer, she decided to leave them to it and catch up later. Following two stallions out of the commons, they lead her down the tunnels towards the armory and barracks.
[Exit Moxie to the Barracks]
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Post by Tarascha Terastari on Nov 27, 2015 20:09:32 GMT
Tara just let out a quiet hum as a sign that he had heard what the pegasus had said and followed him, keeping enough space between the two so he could turn and run at the first sign of danger without being tackled down by the stallion. A crooked leg or not, if he had a head start, he would somehow find a way to escape. He always did, no matter what the chances were. With this newfound, little, happy thought, he put an almost unnoticeable smirk on his face and continued his way together with Flux towards the medical bay.
[Exit Tarascha to Medical Grotto]
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Pumpkin Vine
Junior Member
Camp New Hayven Refugee: Main Defense Trainer and Combat Leader.
Posts: 54
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Post by Pumpkin Vine on Jan 30, 2016 6:58:39 GMT
[Enter Pumpkin Vine from Gathering Nook]
Trotting to the edge of the cave once again, Pumpkin found herself offering a small nod to the permitted ponies standing watch around this edged area. While they took shifts and worked hard to ensure everypony was safe, she also knew that everyone had their turns, showing respect for their hard work and dedication in the process. Awaiting Archimedes, her pupils looked to the open sky just ahead, the once freeing air now a danger zone for the enemies of today. As a warrior, she was trained to be cold, to be heartless in the face of stress, and with those lessons sewn in, Pumpkin Vine stood proud. With a small breeze entering through the cave system through her split braided mane, bangs danced in enjoyment as her small and barely noticeable smile filtered out and proud.
"This weather is beautiful. I miss the cold."
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