Caravan Co. of the West (CLOSED)

Looking at the ghoul cocking his head for a moment he would mutter to himself," what a rude little thing we have here, looks like i might have.. can't be thinking like this now i will wait until another comes along," as he walked over to the group of "clowns" the ghoul was referring to. He would walk over to them scanning each one over carefully, looking for anything interesting. Finally walking up to them he would first introduce himself to them," So you all are the ones i have to work with. I am Midnight Sky, so what are your names," he said with a slight smile.

Jackpot stood to the side, observing the events unfolding before him. He had absolutley no idea what the black griffin was saying, but at least one of the ponies could talk with him. When the second griffin arrived, he raised his eyebrow again. Things were getting interesting. It wasn't often that such a variety of races gathered. Although the newcomer seemed rather aloof, the living members of the party needed someone to keep them that way. He walked over to lean against the wagon, nodding at the undead unicorn. He was ready to go whenever they were.

True Cause watched quietly the goings on, taking note of the way that Midnight had looked at her but she didn't say anything of it, there was no reason to right then but she'd have to keep her eye on him just as she kept her eye on everypony. He seemed nice enough so far though, or polite at least. The other griffon that had landed would certainly come in handy keeping the other beast under control since the pegasus seemed intent on keeping him around.

She dipped her head slightly toward Midnight when he greeted everypony though. "Hello." she said simply in response, not offering her name in return though. Obviously she was either not interested in giving it or had some other motive behind not saying anything on it.

Rho let out a sigh of relief as he spots a fellow griffon showing up. Putting on his best good looking face he smiled at her, "I flew here from my small village in pursuit of a dragon, as it seems I missed it and wound up in this place surrounded by these ponies as you called them. I have never left my village before so I do not know much about what is outside it. But where are my manners, I am Rhodu..." he announced slightly dipping his head down in a bow before smiling at her, "And what is your name my beautiful gryphoness?" Picking her claw up he kissed it on her upper half before letting it back down. Looking around he smiled a bit as he looked down at the others who surrounded him, so far he only liked the two who he could talk to. The rest seemed like dead weight, he couldn't use them hunting. Even a new hunter knew how to communicate so as to not let the prey get away.

Whitefeather let out a sigh as another pony asked for names, she gave hers, it was there own ill though that they did not catch it as such she ignored the pony, if it came up to again announce who they were she would have no quarrel with doing such but for now she had another problem to focus on.

By what it seemed this Griffon was horribly informed, she herself wasn't from the Griffon Kingdoms but coming in contact with a few she knew that they well knew of ponies, heck Kestrel had informed her they had a very healthy hatred of them, especially Pegasus and unicorns for there involvement of shaping the world they fought in today, so seeing Rho be ignorant of there existence baffled Whitefeather and she was out the window as to what to think of him. He seemed polite still, a bow and a compliment, she inwardly laughed at the male for his compliment having heard it thousands of times with little meaning behind the word for a trait she found to be a burden and life threatening, yet the second that he kissed her talon a snear as a near silent hiss escaped her beak, both a learn reaction from working past as well as the close contact of one she just met. She only knew of this Griffons name and appearance and here he was showing affection towards her, she didn't hate the affection but nether did she like it.

As Rho was distracted with looking away at the rest of the group she backhanded the male with a swift upward motion, lightly striking the griffon's cheek, she still had to work with the brute but that didn't mean she wouldn't show any leniency towards his infraction upon common sense " Well I am sorry that you come from such a village that doesn't know of ponies nor these Wastes but please refrain from such mannerism of affection to a minimum dear Rhodu as here it is rather frowned upon for someone you just met" Her gaze was harsh as her tail flicked in the evident anger that she kept under wrap if only for the fact to keep this trip present for the most part.

Midnight Sky would look to the mare that spoke,seemingly the only one that would speak to him which was interesting. He would sit and levitate out a notebook and pencil writing something down before putting it back up in his saddlebag. Looking back to the mare, he would smile and nod his head," Manners aren't something you find common out here in these lands and that is interesting,tell me where do you come from," he asked with a smile.

Looking at the others it seemed they were not talkative or just avoiding him something he cared not for considering he had been alone for some months, so he really did not care. He would sit down and await the caravan to move so that the job could commence.

She didn't respond at first, watching him carefully before she lifted herself up properly, adopting what she hoped was a less threatening pose for the moment, "Ponyville." she said, it was the most recent place she'd been to that she could speak of, "And where are you from? What do you do?" she asked in return. Her voice was dull, almost flat, as if disinterested in everything. Which wasn't entirely true, she was curious about the more expanded world she'd been let out into finally just as much as she was interesting in sorting out the worthy form the not so worthy. Though similar to her constant staring at anything that seemed intelligent, her voice would be much the same. Quiet, confident, almost monotone.

Mixtape awoke in a bit of a daze. He had a long peaceful slumber and was ready to go. he got up and looked around the Caravan Barracks, there was nopony in sight. "Oh Shit i'm late."

Mix hopped off his bed and went to his footlocker he reserved for the night and pulled out a bedroll, a raincoat, his weapons, some food, and a few notes and files.

He began fumbling trying to get all of his gear on, soon enough he fell down. "Damn!"

After all the commotion he checked his pip-buck and ran strait for the location.

As he peered around the corner, he sighed a sigh of relief see in that the caravan and its group didn't leave yet. Mix nonchalantly trots into the group of ponies (and non-ponies) and spotted the ghoul who would be leading this expedition

"Hey there! I'm Mixtape, one of the guns-for-hire, sorry i'm late, I woke up a little later than I wanted to." Mix says as he shakes the unicorn ghoul's hoof.

Mix then pulls out a bottle of sparkle~cola and drinks it for his breakfast.

Swift looked around at the odd assortment of creatures gathered around. She thought to herself "This is either gonna be one hell of a party, or we are all going to die." Swift viewed the new griffin arrival as a bit of relief, "Finally, an non pony female to talk to." She walked over and watched as the two griffins had a conversation in squawks and birds noises. Since her family were explorers and traveled she picked up some of the different languages of the wastes. She could make out a few words, but not all of them. All she was able to pick up from the conversation at the start was that his name was Rhodun or something and he was from a tiny pillage, and he thought WhiteFeather was beautiful.

She let out a few barks of laughter as she saw the male get slapped. She tried to understand what Fea had said but couldn't really grasp it. She looked over the griffin and saw the silent anger build up inside her. She decided at that moment to speak up.
She gave a small bark at Fea, before making a small squawk. Hello Was all that she could manage without a little time. She knew she would have to answer some questions after that but she really needed someone to talk to. Jackpot's scent was burning her eyes and nose.

Looking at the mare with discontent he would simply sigh as he would get no where with his questionnaire and decided to end it with her questions. He was all ready to answer her question until she asked him where he was from, sighing deeply his face would go from content to disappointment," where i am from is that dump of a place Friendship City, a place i will never return to or better yet can't. As for what i do...well lets just say i wander and do odd-jobs for now," as Midnight Sky's face began to produce a smile like no other.

He would give her a bow and walk a little ways away from here pulling out a book about pony anatomy, a book he has had since his leaving that hellhole of a place. He would sit there as he awaited the caravan to move.

Whilst all the ponies... And griffons and dogs... were getting mildly acquainted and introducing one another, a zebra stepped up to them, quite uniformly striding towards them. What would be the biggest thing to note about this zebra was his clothing. As he was clad in painted-black legionaire armour that seemed to have little specs of white all over the armour.

"I am not late, am I, old trader?" His voice, deep and rather commanding came to be heard as he looked over the ghoul before giving a bored glance towards the others in the group. "This group you have is already quite... something, but an extra hoof is of no issue, correct?"

True Cause shrugged as he smiled and wandered off, turning her attention briefly toward the two newcomers, first toward Mix-tape and his hoofshaking and then toward Tiberius, her eyes widening ever so slightly before she 'settled' down some. her focus remained there though, keeping herself quiet still. Why was there a zebra here? In legion armor at that? She looked for a few seconds toward the ghoul he was greeting to see if he was going to be okay with that. She'd hoped not. It was putting everypony there at risk to have one of his kind watching their backs.

Hearing hoofsteps of two newcomers, Midnight Sky would stop his reading to look up and see what new data had walked into the group. One was just another pony, nothing out of the ordinary for him, but one caught his eye immediately it was a zebra. Not just a zebra in a book a real zebra, his eyes would start to shine in excitement as his mind rattled with questions to ask it. He would bookmark his book, walking up to the Zebra only stopping beside it as he looked at his clothing first then his glyph. Noting it was a boy he would finally speak," why hello there, you would not mind answering a question for me would you," he said as he levitated out a notebook and pencil waiting for the zebras response.

Holding up a claw to his cheek he sat baffled at what had just happened to him. Never in his life had a female gryphoness ever slapped him for his usual greeting, but this was a new gryphoness and a new land. Smiling again he set his claw down and looked at her, "I am sorry if I offended you, in my village it is quite commonplace for males to greet new females in such a manor. I will refrain from doing so now, but I still have yet to be told your name. Might I ask from where in the homelands you are from?"

As he looked her over she was really beautiful, but something else about her drew her to him. She was the first female he had met who rejected him upon first glance. This was a gryphoness he would like, she would give him the thrill of the hunt he longed for. Flicking his tail back and forth he kept his eyes looking at the gryphoness as he watched the rest of the group out of his peripherals. As he watched he saw one of the new creatures walking up to him and barely managing a hello in his tongue. Tilting his head to the side he let out a low chuckle, "Hello to you too" This trip was looking more fun as he was able to converse with more and more.

Amnesia has simply stood there the entire time. Nopony, or, rather, nobody, ever even glanced at her. The young mare remained silent, but she was just itching to meet someone. Although she might not need to. Listening to other's conversations can be quite rewarding, in a certain aspect. In a crude effort to socialize, she trotted up to a brown pony who had identified himself as Mixtape, holding out her hoof for a hoofshake.

"Uh, hi! My name's uhhh.... uh.... To be honest I don't even know, but you can call me Amnesia." She said with a somewhat forced smile, unsure of the reaction her feeble introduction would entail. If one paid close enough attention, they could easily tell she wasn't very good with talking to others, but she most certainly tried to be presentable and friendly.

Jackpot feigned a yawn as he waited. Ghouls don't get tired, but perhaps sompony would take the hint and get this hodgepodge of hired guns into something at least resembling order and start the caravan rolling. Somehow, even living for over two centuries hadn't done much to improve his patience. You'd think that a few more minutes wouldn't matter so much after that long, especially to someone who was already dead...

When the other dog squawked at the black griffin, Jackpot gave a small chuckle. oh, if only she could hear how ridiculous she sounds! he thought. While a diamond dog speaking griff was admittedly rather odd, Jackpot had seen stranger things. Not long after that, he raised a paw in a small wave of greeting to the brown pony who burst out of the barracks before crossing them in front of him and going back to leaning against the wagon. moments later, he nodded a greeting to the zebra as he introduced himself. Unlike most ghouls, Jackpot didn't hold a grudge against the zebras for the war. Blaming Tiberius for the balefire his ancestors unleashed seemed as stupid to him as Swift's prejudice against ghouls.

After finishing his sparkle~cola Mixtape hears a voice, a young mare's voice. Mix turns around and sees a medium-grey pegasus mare, who looks about as old as himself. She seems a little shy and a little confused. Amnesia was her name and she looked like she needed a friend.

"Hi there Amnesia!" Mix says with a joyful smile "I'm Mixtape. Ya'll ready for the long trip ahead of us?" He says in his normally enthusiastic way.

(( OOC note: Try not to post so much during the day, I'm not around to see your posts and its a little difficult for me to read a whole page after a long day. Thank you!))


The ghoul quickly yanked his hoof away from the pony who had decided to take it and shake it. "Don't ever touch me again!" he barked at the pony. He jumped down from the wagon and began toward the front of the caravan. When a zebra approached him he didn't even bother to look at him or acknowledge his introduction. "You call me Ol' Dusty, nothin' else! Ya hear?" His voice seemed angry and full of irritation. "Feather head, let's get this show on the road!"

The purple pegasus mare with the shades turned back to her boss and listened to her orders. "Right!" she answered, then took off toward the sky. She was basically the one to speak for her boss as he clearly was not good at playing with others. "Alright, everypony, listen up!" she called, hovering over the group and holding her front legs out. "My name is Feather Dancer- do not ever call me Feather Head like that curmudgeon just did, because I'll have to nail you up to a tree and leave you for the birds!" she threatened. The old ghoul waved his hoof at her and let out a 'Fffiff!' noise.

"The curmudgeon is Ol' Dusty, don't call him anything else because he wont pay you if you get on his nerves. That big guy with the bigger gun is Rodney. He has been known cut down armies with his gun, so don't get on his nerves either!" The large, red pony with a mini-gun stared at the group with an unchanging look on his face.

"And that green guy's name is Half Stitch. If you are hurt, go to him he's the best medic I've ever seen." The gangly green unicorn medic waved a hoof shyly at the group. "Alright, here's the deal. We're going to take the main pass through the vally, across the river, and around Fillydelphia. Not close enough to have the hellies get on our trails, but close enough to be worried. Just remember, you don't have to outrun them, just each other. We get to Stableton safely and you all get paid.

"Remember that we don't take shit; so if you have some leave it here. We don't want to hear any backtalk, any complaining, any 'oh, I forgot something can we go back?' because Ol' Dusty might shoot you. He hates that shit. Now, let's get this show on the road!" she finished, then soared off ahead of the group to scout.

Wit that, Ol' Dusty climbed onto the seat of the wagon at the front and whipped above the brahim's heads. They let out a frightened MOO, then began to shuffle forward and the caravan began to snail forward and out the gates of New Appleoosa, nothing but storm clouds and open highway ahead of them.

Midnight Sky would fall in line to the right side of the caravan where he could get a visual feel for the entire surroundings and plan accordingly to what happens. Looking around he would hope everyone got into a defensive formation, making sure we had eyes everywhere, he noticed some had pipbucks on them and probably knew how to use them. As for him, he levitated out his pistol and watched carefully for any threats..

Jackpot kept his hood pulled low as he fell in behind the wagons to act as a rear guard. He surveyed the area to the sides of the caravan as it moved, glancing back over his shoulder occasionally. Caravans were always prime targets for any number of hostiles, so he kept his head on a swivel as he walked. His ears twitching to point at any sudden noise as he sniffed the air, alert for new scents. Unfortunately, what with all the hoof traffic and the wagons, his tremor sense was quite muddled and not of much use.

[PER 5 to watch for enemies coming from the sides or rear as the caravan moves]

Tiberius held an impassive expression as the ghoul ignored him. Sure, Tiberius could be blamed for his kind's action during the war, just because he was a zebra, but the pony could also be doing what he was because of the armour or just because he hated zebras in general. But it would take a mere moment if he wanted to break this pony's neck... There could be a sharp snap and the body would be thrown at the red one, then Tiberius could see himself following suit with the pegasus before using the big one's guns against that green medic. And once he was out of ammo? Snapped neck like the other two.

But he wasn't here to murder them all just because there was a racist ghoul. And though he did not want to notice the nuisance, the unicorn who was pestering him seemed to have eased off already. He didn't notice True at all, mostly because he couldn't see her from where he was.

But regardless of it all, Tiberius gave a low chuckle that lasted a mere second. "I see how it is." It was time to go, and Tiberius was ready to move already, he didn't need anything. He knew they would continue with any bigotry towards him, but that didn't matter, this was how the war went as it did last time, underestimating the foe was a deadly thing to do. He'd be on the move once the others started moving, unlike them he seemed more disciplined after all, he didn't really need to waste time on socialising.

Mix hears the low raspy rumble from the ghoul telling him to basically get lost. Mixtape grumbles "I thought ghouls would like some kindness, since they get so much crap from us 'smooth-furs'"

Mix then turned his attention back to Amnesia "Hmm, looks like a storm's a brewing, eh?" Mix says feeling a little worried "Good thing I brought raincoats."

Amnesia smiled and walked alongside Mix. Her introduction had gone much, much better than what she was used to. "As ready as I'll ever be," she said with a shrug. "This is my first real job out here, I hope it's better than digging out of the trash "
She heard him mention the storm and him bringing raincoats.
"Oh you did? That was... considerate."

Sublime stood back some and witnessed the ghoul's foul attitude to ponies just trying to be nice. She didn't know the ghoul or the ponies, but she did understand the ghoul was just a grumpy old stallion. Just like the elder Scribes were toward her in the Ranger bunker growing up.

She trotted up between Mixtape and Tiberius, and gave them a little smile. "Hello! Don't let him bother you, he must be running low on rads today, or something... I'm sure its nothing personal, he may have just been ready to leave. Who are you two? Its always a good idea to make a few friends when doing something like this. Good to have ponies who watch your back, you know?"

Mixtape smiles "We are walking across the length of the wastes. Were bound to get hit by a storm at somepoint." Mix smiles at the pegasus mare and continues, "I brought several just in case others don't want to get rained on."

Mix hears another mares voice coming for his right side who introduced herself an Sublime. "Hiya Sublime, I'm Mixtape." He said in his very enthusiastic way "It's always good to meet new friends." Mix scoots back a little and points at Amnesia "And this here's Amnesia, were also getting aquainted."