Re: [RIOT EVENT, OPEN] The Downtown Barbecue

by Scrapper Thu Feb 13, 2014 7:08 am

Scrapper was lost in thought. His senses, hardened through harsh training from his mentor years ago, were still as sharp as they could be. If anything happened, he will still be able to react accordingly.

Though, accordingly may be asking too much from him at this point.

by Pony Rioters Thu Feb 13, 2014 7:37 am

The Riot Leader turned to face whomever seemed to misunderstand the simple concept of vengeance.

"What does it look like? We all, are getting our taste of vengeance! They showed us, NO MERCY!" He pointed his sledgehammer at the 'High-Class' looking pony. "But you wouldn't understand that, living a better life than all of us, who have to live and survive on the streets! Constantly under griffon watch, always seeing someone being killed for no good reason by griffon soldiers!" He let his hammer drop down to its original position.

After he had finished speaking, members of the crowd began to yell at the group of stand-out ponies. To many to accurately hear what was being said, but it was clearly a mix of death threats and a pure hatred for anything remotely trying to prevent them from their goal.

Other members of the crowd were already pre-occupied. A griffon was swarmed during Silver's conversation with Hijinks, and was having his wings torn from his body. The screams of the griffon in question could be heard over the crowds angry shouting. Some were actually asking to carry out the little foals suggestion of cooking the hanging griffon alive.
At the same time, bodies were being tossed off of rooftops to the streets below. Most of them griffon, some of them ponies who were unsuccessful in killing a griffon, and a mix of both when jumping off of buildings that were set ablaze. The area around the 3 ponies was complete and utter chaos, exactly what the Riot Leader wanted and the crowd he led.

by Silver Lining Sat Feb 22, 2014 4:28 pm

Silver couldn't decide whether or not to be angry with the young filly for not hiding, or fearful of her, giving her a side note like a scolding mother would say, "We... are going to have to talk about you later." She turned back to the pony, and barely opened her mouth before her attention was taken away by the screaming of a Griffon caught both her attention and her ears. she had to pull her eyes away from the sigh of a griffon losing his wings to such a horrendous fate.

she refocused her attention towards the apparent riot leader, and tried her hardest not to slide her eminent anger into her voice, "Vengeance? Is that really what you want? as an Equestrian, is that really what you want for Equestria? to become a shallow borderland where anarchy reins and hatred is all we care for? The Griffons might have ruined the world we live in, but if we let them ruin the ponies who lived in that world we may never have Equestria back as we know it, even if we eradicated every griffon from the face of the world, We'll wind up no more friendly to the pony standing beside us than we currently are to the griffon over there!" Silver pointed at the griffon being hung. "If we become no better than They are, They'll have every right to wipe us out!"

by Pony Rioters Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:45 pm

The mob leader actually stopped to think about those words, it was true. He didn't want any of this, but all these other souls did. And without his support, they'd be just a disorganised horde of hate that'll slowly die back to nothing more than the same pedestrians they were before this riot.

He shook his head, "I'm just one individual, It doesn't matter how much you convince me! My heart, lies with all these ponies who have suffered!" He jumped of his high stand and walked through the crowd, that split as he moved through it. Once he was through, and almost face the face with the posh pony, he pointed his hammer at her again.
"If you want this to end easily, you are going to have to change every single ponies mind. Not just mine." He then raised his hammer completely and let out a battle cry to seal his dedication to the crowd, and they accepted by letting out a crowd wide cry of their own.

by **Hijinks** Fri Feb 28, 2014 1:24 pm

Hijinks gave a loud cheer with the rest of the crowd, despite thinking the leader was a big dumb dumb. She just wanted to cheer cause it was fun. She turned to Silver Lining with a mischievous smirk. "I can't believe your rant actually worked! I almost fell to sleep!"

Hijinks spared a second to cast a glance over at the griffon that had very recently lost his wings. The scene was horrifically similar to certain scenario she experienced, and the sight of it happening to something else made her wince slightly.

"Ugh, that just strikes me as a tad bit over excessive." She normally wouldn't bat an eyelash at seeing a griffon getting his head cut off... but the wings? That's cruel!

She turned her attention back to her posse of the snobby fat flanks, Mr angry scowly pants, and the background pony. "I have a griffon buddy, ya know? He was all mopey but then I used my wily wily ways to get some free food out of him, so he's pretty alright." She rambled on.

by Silver Lining Sun Mar 02, 2014 5:51 pm

Silver could hardly believe what she just witnessed. the Pony clearly understood that what he was doing wasn't going to do anything good, and yet decided to go on anyway. This was... this was madness! Prism had told her that it was a bad idea for her to come here, and that she was to come back to avoid any conflict, but she had to at least try one more time. She shot the filly a look of disappointment in her cheering for the wrong crowed, but turned to the crowd once more.

"If you're not going to listen to reason, then maybe some pony would." she addressed the crowd, and more loudly this time. "none of you want to back down. none of you want to stop hating the griffons, I know. I understand it. but take a moment and think what gave them their self proclaimed right to oppress us.they thought they were stronger than us, and certianly came to prove it. Right now, what are we doing, what right do we have to torment them now? Suddenly we're stronger? suddenly it's alright for us to take this heavy hoof over them? I'd say it isn't, and if none of you are going to listen to that, than at least to this; you've taken them by surprise, and that's it. any second now some riot-control griffons are going to show up, and kill every last one of us, with no restraint, because they've already made their point. if we start to disprove them, they will come to prove themselves right, and at the end of the day, they have no right, and right now, neither do we. if we don't disperse right now for the sake of what makes us Equestrians, then at least disperse for the sake of what makes us alive and breathing, before the real enemy shows up."

by Pony Rioters Sun Mar 02, 2014 6:34 pm

The crowd was large, no, huge. And most of what could be heard was whispers and the fire still raging on and the occasional scream.
The riot leader, placed his hammer on the ground and used it as a leaning post, awaiting those with enough sense to leave, and those who have succumbed to their anger to stay.
After a minute, some started to disperse from the crowd. Considering the size of the crowd, many had began to leave. But a few minutes later, only around 30 to 40% of the crowds numbers had left and returned to their homes. And although it was a good dent, the crowd was still an unstoppable army of anger, and it still had the numbers to keep going.

However, the riot leader made it clear that as long as this crowd wanted revenge and guidance, he would remain to guide them forward.
He did remain silent, happy with those who decided to live their lives and suppress their own anger and not willing to speak against their choice. That was what he was there for anyway, why would he disregard that for his own ideals? He was no dictator.
He lifted his hammer once everyone who wanted to leave did. "Well, now that we have this situation dealt with, I do believe we all have a train station to burn down! Who is with me!?" With that, he let out a yell, and the remaining crowd members yelled with him, just as faithful and strong even without the members they lost.

by Harmless Fun Wed Mar 05, 2014 11:18 am

Harmless said nothing as he followed closely behind Silver Lining. He said nothing when she stood in front of the large crowd of savage animals, and he said nothing when she tried to talk them into backing down. But Harmless decided now was a good time to voice his opinion. "Ma'am. Just like you said, the griffon riot control will be here soon. It would probably be wise if we go back." He stated in a neutral expression.

by Silver Lining Wed Mar 05, 2014 3:28 pm

Silvern wanted to stay, she wanted to protect these ponies in the best way she knew how, by convincing them to leave the scene before things finally got out of hand... but perhaps, more or less a third of the group would have to be enough. She looked to the crowd with regretful eyes, and turned towards Harmless with a solemn

"Perhaps... it is time we take our leave." She started her trot towards the nearest entrance to the under-market. after a few moments, she moved neck to see behind her the scene of the pony rioters one last time, quietly wishing them luck under her thoughts of resent towards believing those are the Equestrians she was trying to protect.

by Scanion Blackwing Sun Mar 09, 2014 10:21 am

He had been observing for a while now. That pony made a decent attempt at quelling the riots peacefully. That's why he did not act at all, but even with the dent the pony made, the mob was still to large and still under good leadership. That had to stop.

No doubt his comrades would be here soon to try and stop the riots themselves, but the loses would be easily minimised if the crowd was disorganised. But one of the ponies amongst the team of 3 had his attention, donning a skull mask, he looked like the general idea of a bodyguard. Something was definitely off about him though, and he didn't leave with his colleagues.

Regardless, he would remain observant, and out of sight.
He turned to his pet with a task to give. "Pay attention now."
"Do you see the pony with the sledgehammer, leading the others? I want you to kill him. And I want you to do it now."

by Void's Mirror Mon Mar 10, 2014 11:05 am

[as Void]

Covered in a coat, her turquoise eyes switched at his words towards Scanion, then to the pony he was refering to. Kill him was the order and it was an order like every order else she got. She had been standing alongside all the time but not watching.
Now she watched. She watched how the mob moved. She watched the leader with the hammer who was at the front, surrounded by other ponies. Void nodded. Then she made her way towards the mob. Entering the crowd, becoming a part of it. Unfortunately she wasn't good as actor. She didn't scream, didn't look angry like the others around. The question is if anypony notices in their rage.
Void made her way slowly towards the sledgehammer-leader-pony, pushing through the other ponies. Under her coat her wings moved a bit aside so she could easily take the hidden knife when the time comes for it.

by **Syron** Tue Mar 11, 2014 2:55 pm

Shade patiently watched the croud for change as the exchange went on, relocating her weapons from time to time, though she couldn't move them around openly and had to use the time-expensive version of dismissing them and conjuring them at a different location. From the looks of it, Silver managed to keep the aggression away from her, but wasn't successful in her goals either. A substantial number of ponies left, but not nearly enough. Luckily, Silver decided to accept it.

Shade was about to relocate, when she noticed Scrapper not following the pony they were supposed to protect. She scanned the crowd for something he might have noticed, but saw nothing unusual. Reaching out for the shuriken Scrapper wore around his neck, she gave a few gentle tugs in the direction Silver to get him moving. A final look over the mob then finally caught something odd.

You're not one of them, Shade thought. Among the raging mob, she had just made out a cloaked figure making its way through the crowd, snaking herself through the chaos without drawing attention of those around her. No shoving, no bumping, just following the flow. Hard to spot. But while she was hard to notice from ground level, Shadowstrikes view from above gave her an advantage, and the calm behavior of this lone pony stood out in contrast to those around. This one had a purpose. Judging by her course, that purpose had something to with the mob leader. Shade didn't think he would survive for much longer.

Silver Lining was already on the retreat, but the deed would be done before she was at a truly safe distance. While the mob leader's actions were overall unfavorable, removing him now would likely result in an escalation, and the angry ponies might simply blame the next possible suspect (assuming the culprit was wise enough not to reveal themselves). No doubt Silver Lining would be such a suspect, even if reasonable thought spoke mostly otherwise. None of those fools would think reasonably. Besides... Scrapper was even nearer, and thus in more danger.

Shade briefly considered to stop the pony she assumed to be another assassin, but with her distance and only a few seconds to act, her choices were small. Her weapons were located around Silver Lining, with a mob between them and their intended target. Reconjuring the shurikens would have taken too long, and it was hard to guess were exactly that pony would be once the weapon had fully taken form.

Preventing the murder was ruled out, and so the choice fell towards getting everypony out of the danger zone as quickly as possible. Shade tugged on Scrapper's shuriken again, more firmly this time, pointing the earth pony towards a nearby building. It wasn't the quickest way to the Undercity, but it was the quickest way out of sight.

by Scrapper Tue Mar 11, 2014 5:37 pm

Scrapper was tugged out of whatever world he was in, and by the feeling of the tug in question, he and the 2 others he was with were in danger somehow.
He was directed to a nearby building, meaning whatever it was was urgent.

He quickly pushed his way past the crowd to catch up with Silver and the other bodyguard, once he was there, he placed a hoof to gain Silver's attention over all the shouting.
"We have a problem, getting back to safety isn't an option. We need to go somewhere more temporary, to that building!" He pointed a hoof to where Shade had directed him, so that should anything happen, Silver would still know where to go.
"This is urgent, move your bloody arses!"

by Silver Lining Wed Mar 12, 2014 2:28 pm

Silver was trotting solemnly before her thoughts were interrupted by a startling hoof. Up till now, this "scowler" said practically nothing, and did nothing more than keeping his distance yet following Silver as a body guard, so no doubt she was surprised to hear his voice, as well as the accent in his tongue... and the need to wash his mouth with soap.

Silver knew better than to argue with her bodyguard for the while; if they were in any form of danger, she certianly didn't know, and certianly didn't want to waste any time putting distance between it and the ponies accompanying her.

She nodded, and changed course to where Scrapper pointed, whispering him a question with clear concern in her hushed voice, "Are you seeing something I'm not? Griffons?"

by Kroll Wed Mar 12, 2014 6:06 pm

High above the riots, a single, armor-clad griffon flew in a slow circle, surveying the violence and destruction on the ground below. After a few more passes, the griffon dropped a small canister that fell several feet before letting out small cloud of red smoke, which continued to trail out of the canister as it plummeted towards the ground. Seeing that its work was done, the griffon broke its flight pattern and flew off into the distance, maintaining its high altitude.

Elsewhere, atop one of the few non-burning buildings that looked over the riots in the Downtown District, Kroll scanned the horizon expectantly as the other six members of his squad wrapped up their final weapon checks. "How are we looking, gents?" the captain asked without taking his eyes off the skyline.

"We're good-to-go, sir." said one of the soldiers as he finished putting his crossbow back together, his comrades nodding in agreement as they did the same. "Teams one and three are in position as well. Once we get confirmation from Stormcloud, we can drop the hammer on these guys."

by Scrapper Wed Mar 12, 2014 7:01 pm

"Honestly I have no idea either, but I'm being warned in a rather complicated manner. So can we please get into the building before whatever it is that's bad happens?" He said as they approached the building in question, holding the door open in a gentlecoltly manner

by Harmless Fun Thu Mar 13, 2014 6:58 am

Harmless said nothing as he followed behind Silver Lining and 'Scowler'. He kept his gaze hovering over the crowd, checking for griffons, or whatever the threat was. Whoever this other bodyguard was, and how he knew they were in danger didn't matter. If they were in danger, questioning him would probably get them killed by the headless horse or whatever else was spooking him.

As they reached the building, he did the gentlecoltly thing and let Silver and 'Scowler' go in first. That and he wanted to make sure nothing followed them.

by Aella Thu Mar 13, 2014 11:49 pm

Aella stood in the small crowd of guards behind Kroll, checking the straps and buckles on her armour and helmet one last time. She was more than ready to get into the crowd and crack heads, the reports of vile cruelty setting her mind on the path to vengeance.

The griffoness moved up beside Kroll and looked out over the burning city.

by Void's Mirror Fri Mar 14, 2014 6:36 pm

Void had almost reached the leader as suddenly a red colour dust and a cannister that fell down next to Void caused confusion among the rioters who stopped walking and others who ran into them. There was a shifting through the crowd and Void lost sight of the pony with the hammer as some splashes of the colour hit her in the eye. She had to blink a few times and look around as she saw him again. And again she made her way towards him, ignoring the ponies around her.

by **Syron** Sat Mar 15, 2014 10:42 am

Shadowstrike quickly rushed down the stairs to the ground level, throwing a look out of the next window on every floor. She had expected for the mob leader to be dead by the time she was down, but a column of smoke had caused additional commotion, and a look to the sky quickly confirmed her suspicions about its origin. A griffon was leaving the scene, and probably soon a group of them would come back. The building Shade had directed Silver and the others into wouldn't be safe enough once the guard began breaking this up, and unfortunately Shade hadn't had a good view on possible escape routes from her old spot.

Relocation was another problem. Shade was on the wrong side of the road and had to pass through the mob, in broad daylight, much to her disliking. She pulled her hood deep into the face and cast her shadow spell underneath it to make sure nopony would see anything else than blackness and pulled out of her cover when she felt the crowd momentarily thinned down enough to quickly skip through.

As she moved along, she regularly threw a look in the direction she believed the mob leader to be in, and at the sky. This place was about to blow up badly, and she could only hope to make it through in time.

by Pony Rioters Sat Mar 15, 2014 2:10 pm

The red canister that hit the ground left most of the crowd in a red mist, although it was hindering sight levels, it wasn't going to cause much damage if they knew which direction to go.

The riot leader saw what it mean't. "They are on to us! Quickly! Rush to the train station!"
And so they did, following the street to get out of the red smoke which only dragged along with them as they all struggled to move down the street. the smoke was about 2 ponies high. Anyone higher than that was perfectly fine, although they couldn't really see into the crowd.
The Riot Leader, was standing on a pile of debris, just high enough to be above the smoke.

((Yes, Momma Void can kill him now. But that doesn't mean he won't struggle<3))

by Silver Lining Sat Mar 15, 2014 2:31 pm

((right, I guess I'll just gander at creating the interior of this... "building."))

Silver made a mental note of questioning Scowler about his "rather complicated manners" later, but for now, followed after him into the building with Harmless guarding their entry, her last look from outside burning an image of a red colored column of smoke snaking its way over the crowd.

The ponies found themselves in another dusty old building, but Silver had already gotten used to "dusty" situations by now. Even then, that didn't mean the dust didn't bother her. Entering the doorway lead the ponies to what can only be described as a stairs-room, with another door leading to their right, and a spiraling staircase straight ahead of them. Silver turned to the jacket-wearing Stallion, "So we're meant to wait it out in here? I'd honestly think putting some distance between us and that... red smoke, would likely be safer."

by Scrapper Sat Mar 15, 2014 7:34 pm

"That gas is obviously just an accident, there's a lot of it in the sky above us and that usually means Griffons are on the way. Most likely, they already have us quarantined in this street. This isn't safe, but it's safer than being out there." Scrapper took a look out of a nearby window.

"At least in here we can act like we had no part in the riot, keep an eye out for a chance to leave though, I'm sure you'd prefer the undermarket over captivity." He left the window and guided the group up to the first floor, and into an abandoned/empty home. Even in a bad situation, he decided the best thing to do was kick back and relax. He took a seat next to a window that still overlooks the street covered in gas, lifted his hooves onto a makeshift table, and waited. Looking over the street, hoping Shade had the sense to stay in her hiding spot.

by Void's Mirror Sun Mar 16, 2014 8:45 am

The time from reaching the hammer pony and putting the knife out until stabbing it into him where his kidney was, was faster done than a not exactly watching pony would have noticed. That was not only because Void was fast but also because she let there for a second be no room between them so that nopony should have noticed her movement towards him.
Then she hid the knife again under her coat and let herself fall back.

by Pony Rioters Sun Mar 16, 2014 9:01 am

He should have seen that coming, but a layer of Red smoke makes that difficult. Although the red smoke was beginning to spread out far enough to begin clearing, it was still to hard to guess who done the deed. But he wasn't out of the fight yet.

"We have a traitor in are midst! Take down all who stand in our way, or show any signs of traitorous acts!" He yelled, able to withstand the attack through sheer adrenaline. He was lucky it wasn't the neck or somewhere more important or he'd be out for good. But he kept a ready stance, visibly showing pain by leaning over a little.

The crowd, once again acknowledged. Some continued down the street, others specifically searched for suspicious ponies.

by Kroll Mon Mar 17, 2014 1:57 am

Kroll frowned as he heard the distant shouting of the crowd in the streets below, seeing that the riot was beginning to move. "Shit...they're starting to move. Bronze Wall won't be in position for another five, so we're going to have to greenlight Stormcloud in advance." The captain moved over to one of the crates that had been placed on the rooftop, pulling out a plague doctor-like mask. "Everyone, grab a mask and get it on. I'm going to signal Stormcloud to commence once they're in position."

The other members of the squad nodded and hastily grabbed a mask for themselves, fastening them over their faces before picking up their crossbows again. Seeing that the rest of the squad was prepared, the captain loaded a bolt with a flare affixed to the tip in his crossbow, igniting it before shooting it up into the air. The bright green flare streaked up into the sky for several feet before making a lazy arc beginning to slowly drift back down to the ground.

"Okay!" Kroll barked before putting his mask over his face. "Aim at the rioters furthest away from the center mass; stragglers and airbornes are top priority. Bodyshots only, gents!" he said as he picked up his own crossbow, taking aim at some of the rioters making their way down the street.

by Aella Tue Mar 18, 2014 9:21 am

Aella took off her helmet, strapped on a mask and replaced the Galea. She looked down at the street, keeping an eye out for anything that would require her personal intervention.

by **Hijinks** Tue Mar 18, 2014 11:08 am

"And then, together, we saved the world from the mushroom monsters." Hijinks finally looked around, expecting an audience of the stuck-up pony and her grumpy friends. She let out an annoyed huff as she realized she was alone, and her company abandoned her while she was ~~rambling~~ telling a fascinating story.

Casting her gaze over the current chaos of the riot, she realized two things: One is that she could no longer find fat flanks, and two, there are a lot more griffons then she last remembered. Hijinks, the brilliant and quick thinking mastermind that she is, decided that she will play the role of an innocent victim. This included sitting where she was, looking like a clueless filly.

She was constantly scanning the crowds however. Don't want to get surprised. Surprises are only fun if they don't involve painful injuries.

by **Syron** Tue Mar 18, 2014 11:47 am

Shade was in the middle of the street when things started to get ugly. The leader's shouts informed her of it first, and it was even worse than anticipated. The other cloaked pony had indeed tried to kill him, but had failed and instead of leaving the mob leaderless, he had become enraged, and now ponies had become targets.

Go on, cross the street and stand out, or follow the flow and fully disappear into the crowd. For Shade, the latter would be much safer, but it would also mean that Scrapper and the others would be without guidance for a possibly necessary escape. Scrapper had priority.

Though she let the crowd determine her movement a little more, she was still pushing sideways, and if one of the ponies she passed by paid any attention, she would certainly be called out.

by **Hijinks** Tue Mar 18, 2014 11:59 am

Hijinks continued to sit there, but as she scanned the crowd, she noticed an odd-pony-out. A hooded black mare, pushing her way against the tide of the rioting ponies.

She's walking the wrong way, Hijinks thought.

But what really caught her attention was her hood. It was sunny sunny day time, but she still couldn't peek under that hood. Hijinks accepted this challenge. No matter what the cost, she must sneak a peek under that hood. Maybe there was a tentacle monster under there... She had to know.

She got up, and bounded over to the hooded pony. "Hey! You with the hood!" with a few playful leaps, she managed to catch up to the black pony fully. Naturally, when dealing with a suspicious, and potentially dangerous pony, the best option is to jump up on that pony's back and get a free ride. And this is exactly what Hijinks did.

Leaping up, she managed to get up on the black pony's back, wrapping her forelegs around mystery pony's body. Hopefully she won't get bucked off again, she hated it when they do that. "Hai! Let's be friends!" Hijinks shouted over the crowd. Of course, this was all part of her plan to get closer to mystery pony and unmask/hood her!

by Void's Mirror Tue Mar 18, 2014 1:03 pm

Void was watching the leader. She wouldn't leave the mob before he had died. Of course, it took some time but it was her task to kill him and she would not go back to her master without having done what she was told. Her master hadn't said how fast that pony was to die.
She kept some distance to the hammer pony, when the yell about a hooded pony could be heard. Void concentraded on other things and didn't quite catch the call, still her body tensed automatically. She could be meant for she wore a coat with hood.

by **Syron** Tue Mar 18, 2014 1:18 pm

"Hey! You with the hood!"

Shade immediately turned towards the source of the sound, but not in time to evade the filly jumping onto her, or even recognize her as that. It was only the voice and the sudden - though still light - weight on her back.

"Hai! Let's be friends!"

WHAT?!?

She had first thought that she's simply been called out, but this latest exclamation didn't suggest hostile intent at all. Nonetheless, this little show most certainly directed all attention towards them. Shade's secrecy was gone, and the spotlight was on her. She was doomed.

She turned her head to see who she had to thank for this predicament, but not before lowering the intensity of her spell. Upon such close distance, it was way too suspicous to display and would do her little good. Her red eyes where now visible, but her already black fur helped little to pronounce the other features of her face in the still unusually dark shadows. Of course, black fur and red eyes was already a good description if one wanted to find her.

Shade glared at the filly in still controlled anger, quickly recognizing the bomb thrower from earlier. "You've just caused me a lot of trouble, not a good way to make friends", she hissed with venom in her voice. "Get off." Or I'll use you as a hostage if I have to.

by Pony Rioters Tue Mar 18, 2014 8:39 pm

Shadowstrike was unfortunately right, to the highest degree. The filly was loud enough to catch attention, those that stopped to look also ended up halting others, who also stopped to see what was going on.

What you have in the end, is a massive oval of suspicious and angry ponies, surrounded by the completely unaware. With Shade and her new friend in the lower section of that oval.
After being told of a traitor, a few of those surrounding ponies were already prepared to attack should the pony do anything irrational. Unfortunately for Shade, that was the nicest of the horde, the majority of viewers were already creeping closer, pretty much set on gutting the black mare.

As for the riot leader, he was getting weaker every second. His rage could only hold him so far. Soon, he'll be unable to even carry his sledgehammer, his vision was making the haze of red smoke a sea of pure red despite it getting better and easier to see in by the minute.

Soon, the smoke would be a simple tint in the eyes of those who walk in it, and a practical normality to those who observe. All thanks to the crowds newfound haste.

by **Hijinks** Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:28 am

Hijinks looked left. Hijinks looked right. Hijinks looked like she was in trouble! Ruh roh! Or more specifically the black pony she was on was in trouble, and she was angry at Hijinks. You say potato, I say tomato.

Now, it was up to her to save the day. She had to save her new friend, even if it meant minor injury. The ring of ponies forming around the two made a nice arena. Perfect. Hijinks hopped off the pony and circled her till she could see her face.

Not a tentacle monster, she mentally checked off in her head.

Hijinks began her performance by dramatically lifting her hoof and pointing it at the sky. "This goes out to all my fans out there. TayTay, Kitten and BlackButt, you know who you are." She lowered her hoof enough to meet the eyelines of her viewers. She swept her hoof over every single one of them, to show each and every pony how much their attendance meant to her. Then she began to sing, tapping her hoof to a silent beat.

"I'm the M to the E, there ain't no letter three.
And when I start singing, you'll all get jelly of me.
But don't you look sad, and don't chu get mad.
Cause I'm so talented, and you're just bad!"

"Heh, I'm a little filly, see?
But I've never met another that can keep up with my beats.
I'll be singing all week, you'll be thinkin I'm leet
And when I get rockin, well then you're in for a treat.
Yeah!"

Dramatic point to Shady pony. "Rock it!" Her hoof kept up the beat, but now it was time for a new challenger.

((It's about time we made this riot a musical)) ((Maybe this will distract some of them #w/e, I didn't know what to say so I started singing instead.))

by **Syron** Fri Mar 21, 2014 10:14 am

((At some point we'll really have to try a musical episode, but I can't see Shade breaking into song now^^))

Shade watched the filly's performance with proper bafflement, but didn't neglect watching the mob for further approaches. Luckily, they were taken just as unprepared and had momentarily stopped to comprehend this. Happy ponies breaking into song was not unusual for the inhabitants for Equestria, but with the war happy ponies had become a rare sight. Not so luckily, the didn't open a path of escape. She was still surrounded, and when the song was over, they would probably quickly resume their advance.

However, the next surprise of having the song passed to her gave her an idea, and after a moment of staring at the young pony, she opened her mouth. "I don't feel like singing while I'm surrounded by ponies who want to kill me for something I haven't done", she said calmly, loud enough for the surrounding threat to hear. "I didn't attack him, and my only intention is to cross the street."

by Pony Rioters Fri Mar 21, 2014 12:36 pm

The crowd had calmed down, helped by the filly's singing somewhat because of how odd it was. The one's that were prepared for the worst relaxed and some even began to dwell away from the oval. The one's approaching stopped in their tracks, still unsure of the shadey pony.

Things were getting better, until 1 crowd member decided to silently throw a rock in the aims of hitting Shade, whether it hit or not the pony didn't know, but it was followed up by, "Liar! You probably have weapons under that cloak!" said a feminine voice.

One hostile action led to another, "Yeah! Prove you don't have anything to do with attacking our leader!" came a masculine voice. Others of the crowd followed with agreeing 'Yes's and some were daring enough to attempt to get close and check themselves if Shade had any weapons or evidence of betrayal.

by Scanion Blackwing Fri Mar 21, 2014 12:53 pm

Scanion took interest in the crowds strange formation now that he could see past the slowly diminishing red smoke.

They surrounded a certain pony, was it his pet? No, the figure was too black, it was someone else. Their suspicions were drawn to a different target, which was good. But something about that black pony bothered him...

Regardless, he saw the the riot leader was beyond saving. He would call his assassin back to him but that would risk his position to the crowd, whatever she was doing was taking it's time.
Then it clicked to him, Black pony, black magic. Could that be who he was after? The information he got from his other targets helped lead to that conclusion, but he was still very uncertain. He was close, but couldn't risk even investigating. He simply had to wait until Void's return, and continue observing.

by Scrapper Fri Mar 21, 2014 1:03 pm

Scrapper also took an interest now that he could see into the crowd, and he really wanted his eye's to be betraying him right now.
Being closer to the ring of ponies made seeing who was inside that ring much easier, and if he was seeing Shade amongst that, well, he was hoping he was daydreaming or something. But no matter how many excuses he made, it was her.

Worry visibly began to take it's place, Scrapper was feeling a lot warmer and pulled his facemask down to try and stop his own breathing from making him choke on reality.
What should he do? He could go out and help, but that would almost certainly make it worse. He didn't even want to think about staying in the building even though he had to protect Silver, but staying would possibly stop it from escalating if Shade was capable of calming them down.

He was emotionless right now, other than worry, he showed nothing. His thoughts were lost in hatred for himself for not going out to help Shade, and every single member of that crowd. But even he knew it was best to stay inside, and hope for the best.

by Kroll Sat Mar 22, 2014 6:21 am

Off in the distance, a sharp crack like thunder ripped through the air over the din of the riots. Shortly after the first sound, a few more like it were heard. The sudden noise made Kroll jolt slightly, but upon realizing what it was, he signaled to the rest of the squad. "Alright! Heads down, bows up! Here comes the rain!" he shouted through his thick mask as he got low to the rooftop, getting his crossbow ready to fire.

As if on cue, the air above the riots was filled with a harsh screaming sound moments later as mortar shells began to rain down on the crowd below, dispersing their payload of noxious smoke, a product of the burning sulphur, wood, pitch, and crushed pepper within the shells of each round. "Remember! Airborne and squirters first!" the captain called out to his fellow guards over the chaos below. "Fire on my mark! Three...! Two..! One! Mark!"

by Pony Rioters Sat Mar 22, 2014 11:03 am

The crowd suddenly started screaming as shells of white gas came down this time, causing ponies within the areas that were struck to cover their eyes, cough and yell in pain. They started to collapse, visibly struggling to breath as the white gas started to spread slowly, aided by more shells raining down on them.

Most pegasus rioters watched in shock, which also stopped them from noticing the initial attack of crossbow griffons. The less skilled fliers also couldn't avoid the shots, but those who knew how to fly weren't too happy about being shot. Knowing the gas caused a lot of problems, a lot of pegasi began to move towards the griffon's firing at them, with the intent of tearing off their masks. To let them join in the pain thanks to the shells that hit the rooftops rather than the ground below.

A couple of shells landed around the rioters circling Shade and Hijinks, causing the crowd to panic and run in all directions while they were still able. Pushing past them, away from the approaching gas would be difficult, especially with some ponies not thinking straight, and blaming Shade for something she clearly didn't do, trying to attack her in the process.

The riot leader, had basically given up by this point. He had predicted this, but could answer the question of why he didn't just tell them to go home. He sat down, and merely waited for his own death.

by Void's Mirror Sat Mar 22, 2014 12:11 pm

Void realized that she was in danger. Smoke filled suddenly the air and it got hard to breathe. She held her breath and flung her coat so that she could spread her wings and flew up. There she saw that other pegasi got shut down by crossbow arrows, so she flew not too much above the crowd towards the end of the crowd. She didn't flew directly to her master since there could be somepony or -griffon following her. A last look at the hammer pony told her that he was surely to die.

Void knew that she hadn't enough air in the lungs to keep on like this much longer. She looked for the griffons that shot the arrows but they were attacked by angry pegasi which was luck for her. She managed to flew to the first row of houses before her sight blurred and she collapsed. There she laid, toxic air in the lungs and unconcious. Hit by an arrow in her backside. The coat didn't cover all of her: there was a light blue wing and leg to be seen.

by **Syron** Sat Mar 22, 2014 1:21 pm

The stone thrown at Shade hit the target, mostly thanks to coming from behind her. She spun around when she felt the impact on her left flank, and noticed a pony trying to get close to her. The suspicion that Shade had weapons beneath her cloak was definitely true, and though the shuriken and her cleaved combat knife wouldn't have fit the wound, but the throwing knifes might. And she had no intention to reveal any of her weapons to them outside a fight. Though a fight pretty much seemed unavoidable.

The thought was proven right when the shells came down. The pony she had already noticed lost his caution when the chaos reached its momentary peak and attacked her straight on, with merely a shovel as weapon. His first swing was targeted at her head, wide and powerful, but completely useless as it hit nothing. Shade had ducked down and stepped to the side, letting only a hoof with a blade stay in the way of his charge. He probably was dead before he realized it, but for Shade the battle was only beginning. Others were coming at her, and she couldn't watch in all directions at once, as the stone just a few moments ago had proven.

Taking the probably last breath of acceptably clean air she would get here, Shade looked around for the filly and picked her up in her magic while dodging another attack without disposing of the assailant right away. "Watch my back!" she simply said, just loud enough to be heard to save her breath, as she placed small passenger on the mentioned body part.

Two attackers were coming again, one from each side. Fools, Shade thought and darted away, not caring if they managed to stop their charge before they crashed into one another or not. Using a pony as stepping stone for a high jump, she got a momentary overview of the distance she needed to cross to the nearest building, and allowed her to cross the first few meters easily, but the cost on her kept breath was too high to repeat again, and her eyes unfortunately were quickly beginning to tear up from the acrid sting of the smoke. A constantly changing labyrinth in front of her, and ponies wanting to kill her behind. And all she had as help was a little filly.

Well, at least it was a filly that was happy throwing bombs around. That might count for something.

by Scrapper Sat Mar 22, 2014 2:37 pm

Nope, nope, nope.
If there was any sense in him now it was gone. Shade was in trouble, but in far less trouble than she could have been. What bothers him is that she was heading to a area that was not gassed yet, which mean't it was about to be gassed or worse, full of the ponies that had suspected Shade to be a traitor. All he knew, is that if she stopped for even a second, she'd be in trouble.

Despite the most likely arguments Silver gave him, he made his way down the stairs and burst out the door, the first thing that caught him was the sting of the air. The next, was a scream from above that made him duck inside again. When he looked to see what it was, the Pegasi were dealing at least some damage, because a griffon had been stabbed and unable to fly, then fell off the building. What did catch his eye, was the gasmask he was wearing. He immediately took it off of the fallen griffon and tried it on, and it fit. It was made for a beak, but it still did it's job.

He started moving in the same direction as Shade, towards the yet to be gassed area. She had a head start, so no doubt she'd be there before him.
Unfortunately, that was confirmed when he was almost stabbed in the side. The look on his attackers face showed fear, and it clearly showed that he wanted the mask he was wearing
His thoughts were side tracked to this pony, "How friggin' dare you think you could stop me." is all he thought. The pony was already crawling on the ground, unable to breath properly. Scrapper didn't know what had overcome him into doing what he did next. He stood up on his back hooves, towering over this unknown pony, lifted his right-hind leg, and brought it down onto his attackers head. Repeatedly crushing his skull between the ground and his strength until he stopped moving.

Even after he did the deed, he showed no change in thought, he turned and continued down towards Shade until he heard others who were still able to walk and fight rush towards him for the same reason, the mask.
He didn't care, if he had to turn each and every one of them into a red mush on the ground, he would do it, he would kill them all.

by Scanion Blackwing Sat Mar 22, 2014 2:57 pm

His comrades had arrived, and his pet was yet to return.

He had to assume she was out there still, the chance of her being killed was high. The captain of the mission knew what his pet looked like, so that made the chances better.

Regardless, it came time for him to leave. It was unwise for him to stay any longer. But rather than go through the streets, he went through building to building. Climbing out windows and flying across to the next building, he continued doing so as ponies below him panicked, and a familiar face caught his attention.

A pony had burst out of the building he just left, he recognised the attire he wore. He also got his first notice of how well the pegasi were doing, as he saw a griffon fall to his helpless death. He climbed into the safety of the building next to Silvers and looked out a window to the pony that bothered him before.

It was then, that he had figured out why he was bothered before. Whilst the pony was holding his breath, and looting the dead griffon of his mask, he got a clean look at his face.
His eye's widened in surprise, "You..."
He recognised his handiwork. The scar on that pony, the griffon's faction logo that covered the whole left-side of his face, the same one he cut into place.
He felt excited, if he managed to track down his target, he knew who to track next.

He eventually resumed his escape, unhindered by the chaos around him.

by Aella Sat Mar 22, 2014 7:50 pm

Aella took to the air and flew to intercept the incoming pegasi, delivering sharp blows to their wings where she could to drop them out of the flight.

by **Hijinks** Sun Mar 23, 2014 8:43 am

Hijinks sighed. Why does nopony sing with her? The stories said that ponies sung together all the time. Whatever, it's the shady pony's problem now. If she sung at least a few lines, she could have gotten out of there.

Hijinks' ears perked up at the sound of explosions. Then she saw the shelling. If she weren't in the middle of it, she would have found the sight pretty cool. The explosions released some cloudy gas. Looked unhealthy, which was supported by the screaming. Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt herself being enveloped in some magic-y stuff. She gave a small yelp of surprise as she was lifted up into the air. This was not how she wanted to fly!

She was deposited on the back of the rude magicking pony, which turned out to be shady-not-want-sing-song pony. "Watch my back!" Which was easy enough because that's where she was sitting.

"Sure!" She replied. She would have said more, maybe talk about the whole singing thing, but she took the time to take a deep breath in. Evident by the screaming, breathing in the gas would be unpleasant. Reaching into her satchel, she pulled out a bunch of her favorite bombs, the boom crackles! Striking a match against Zappy, she lit a few bombs, throwing them out behind her to dissuade pursuers. She grinned as she heard the sweet sound of crackling that her bombs produced, which was accompanied by ponies crying out in pain.

The rodeo was also fun. yee-haw!

by Pony Rioters Sun Mar 23, 2014 9:49 am

A bomb-chucking filly, throwing bombs at rioters and riding on the back of an already suspicious pony? If that wasn't a recipe for disaster then you need to go home and think about your life.

Not only did additional healthy rioters from the bomb-free area know to indistinctly block the path the shady pony and her friend were taking, but there were pegasi among them as well, meaning it would be hard to get away unseen, many also attempting to attack Shade directly.
All this was unnecessary, because as Scrapper had deduced before, the area was a big problem because many rioters fled there from the gas. Shells began to rain down shortly after the rioters were finished blocking off Shade, directly hitting some and causing the gas to appear red as it came out of the canister to be replaced by a full white as it spread.

Panic ensued once again, the whole street was covered in gas and there was nowhere left to run except into buildings.
For the ones who were to close to the explosions, it was too late. Everyone else had to try and avoid prolonged exposure or they'd be in trouble.

by **Syron** Sun Mar 23, 2014 11:15 am

Okay, maybe the bomb throwing wasn't actually a good thing. Still, the filly had been the only pony potentially on her side, so Shade had taken the chance, rather than to allow attacks from behind. Unfortunately, it also limited her mobility. She couldn't drop down onto her back, and even though the filly was quite light (almost like a pegasus in disguise) it was still more mass to handle in a situation where she needed to change direction quickly.

The first pony getting in the way was barely passed by, before a pegasus landed right in front of Shade, too near for her to evade. Her opponent had of course fully expected the crash, and was waiting for it with a big kitchen knife in his mouth. There was no avoiding collision, and the blade was held at the right height to possibly cause a lethal wound, but Shade's reflexes and equipment served her well. She magically pulled out her already blodied combat knife and lifted it to the height of the opponent's weapon, while her hoof was still rushing up to get a more secure hold on it.

The reason why Shade used a "fancy" cleaved blade was quickly apparent. The enemie's knife went into the gap until it hit the hilt, and when Shade had her hoof on it to deliver some real pressure, the attacker's jaw had to give up. The kitchen knife clattered to the ground, while Shade's weapon missed the opponen'ts face only by inches. A moment later the bodies crashed into each other, and though Shadowstrike quickly got the upper hoof (she still had her weapon, and several more under her cloak after all), when she was done she felt her lungs burning for fresh air, her sight already heavily compromised by heavy tearing thanks to the gas (not to mention the difficulty to keep her eyes open), and around her several ponies were about to attack her. Her path was blocked. Until it was bombed free, unfortunately not by the filly.

The last shell came down right on one of the attackers, leaving the pony dead, the way open, but with a big cloud of thick fumes in the way. Still, this was the way out. Everypony else was running away, so the path right through it was clear. Once Shade was in a proper building that didn't have all the windows smashed in, the air would be clean enough, even though a shell was right outside the door.

If Shade had any breath to spare, she would have warned the filly to close her eyes, but as it was, that would have been foolish. So the unicorn only followed the warning herself and gallopped ahead, right over the fallen shell and to the door of a building she had seen behind it before her sight had been too obscured. She was used to navigating blindly after getting only a short look at the environment, but now she suffered from a steadlily growing lack of oxygen, and disorientation was one of the subsequent problems. She found the building's wall soon enough, but a door? Was it left or right? Further to the right there had been a window, that was probably the better chance.

It took an imagined eternity to find it, and by the time she did, Shade was almost ready to draw in a breath despite the effects she knew it would have. She'd probably break down right where she stood, adding acrid smoke to a lack of air. The window she had found was, for better or worse, still whole. Smashing it in was easy, but climbing in while she was steadly weakening proved more difficult. She had entirely forgotten about the filly on her back (was she even still there?), and only had a mind for pulling herself over the edge. She felt herself gaining several cuts, but didn't care.

When she finally fell inside, she was lucky enough to land on her hooves and tried to put some distance between herself and the window before finally taking a breath, but after the first collision with some unknown piece of furniture, she lost the battle. The smoke streaming in through the window wasn't nearly as bad as the stuff outside, but it still send Shade coughing on the floor before she regained enough senses to open her eyes and find another room. There was a door only a few meters away that certainly didn't lead outside, so shade quickly made her way to it and bolted inside, luckily finding relatively fresh air.

Shade's Knife - Shadowfang:

by **Hijinks** Mon Mar 24, 2014 6:20 am

Hijinks eventually got tired of throwing bombs behind her. Not because it was boring, but because hanging onto the shady pony seemed a higher priority at that moment. She closed her eyes and hung tightly onto the back of the black pony. Her lungs were on fire, begging for oxygen, but Hijinks never gave in. The rodeo got a little bumpy at times, but she clung on for dear life.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, she heard her ride stumble over something, followed by a fit of coughing. She took this a sign that they were in a relatively safe location to take a breather. Air filled her lungs, but it tore at her, stabbing her with agony. She closed her mouth again, cause that air was nasty. She opened her eyes, finding herself in a building. She was still clinging onto the black pony, but she didn't pay much attention to Hijinks.

Her ride ran into another room of the house that was pure of the gas. Hijinks took another deep breath, savoring the non-painful air that filled her lungs. She let go of the black pony and fell to the floor with a thump. She closed her eyes and laid there on the floor.

"Nap time..." She said quietly. Though she didn't really sleep, she was just closing her eyes for a moment.

by Kroll Mon Mar 24, 2014 7:11 am

Kroll swore through his mask as he saw some of the pegasai manage to break through the layer of gas from the mortars, and shouted at his men to focus their fire on the rioters that were coming at them. While some of the other containment teams that were entrenched across the way were able to knock some of these rioters out of the sky, it certainly wasn't an easy task.

The captain's attention was briefly drawn away from the incoming attackers when one of the soldiers from his squad attempted to flee from the fight, only to be intercepted by the rioters and sent plummeting to the streets below. And even though he felt sadness over the loss of a fellow soldier, the tercel was furious that the fool tried to abandon his brothers when they needed him the most.

Redirecting his attention to the situation at hand, Kroll saw as Aella leapt from her spot on the rooftop and took to the sky to engage the oncoming rioters, dropping them out of the sky with precise blows with. The captain's admiration for his asset's effort was cut short as a hoof smashed him across his face, causing him to hit the ground like a sack of bricks as his protective mask to became dislodged from his face, clattering on the ground a few feet away from him along with his crossbow. Great. Shaking off the pain of the blow, the captain could feel the gas begin to affect him, his mucus membranes feeling as if they had been set ablaze as they reacted to the airborne chemicals. Still, the tercel did his best to ignore the pain, as he slowly picked himself off the ground, trying to get a good view of the rioter who had managed to reach the rooftop through the tears and mucus that was streaming from his eyes and nostrils.

The rioter let out some kind of infuriated screech before charging at the captain, clenching some kind of cleaver in its teeth. With his crossbow too far to retrieve quickly and his face feeling like it was being set on fire, Kroll hurriedly backpedaled away from the oncoming pegasus as best as he could, trying to pull out the rifle that was slung across his back.

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