Rotwhite chapter 8

“Uh, excuse me?”
>The random stallion stares at you
>”Alcohol. I really need a drink now.”
>The stallion looks to the side, avoiding the glare you must have on your face
“Where’s Barnacle? Is that blood? What happened?”
>You glance at another mothpony, a mare
>”The monsters got him”
>There’s a collective gasp from the 4 ponies that surround you and they instantly surround you and start asking you questions in panic
>it’s overwhelming and their questions just sound like constant droning noise so you can’t catch all of them
“What happened?”
“Are we going to be ok?”
“What should we do next?”
“Your idea of sitting put was stupid!”
“We’re never going to make it!”
>it’s making you pounding headache even worse
>You are about to yell out when the yellow mare suddenly silences everyone
“Quiet please!”
>All the ponies fall silent instantly and glance at her with expressions of surprise and shock
>The yellow mare starts looking a bit unsure now but continues
“Let’s give him a little space first, I’m sure he’ll...”
>her voice trails off as she notices your hoof
“Oh no, are you hurt?”
>You nod
>”Hurts like hell, I think it might be broken”
>The yellow pony ushers and shoos some of the small crowd that’s around away
“We need to take a look at that now, do you need help?”
>The yellow mare offers her hooves but you brush them off
>”I can manage.”
>You follow the yellow mare down the stairs and into the large open area
>all the large bookshelves have been piled up near all the doors and there’s a few makeshift beddings, kitchens and other sorts of things that’s been hastily put together from scraps
>You follow the yellow mare in silence into what you can only describe as a first-aid corner
>Honey Mug is in there too, sitting down and just staring at the floor again
>The yellow mothpony mare, Soothing or whatever Honey Mug called her signs for you to sit down as she digs out some medical supplies
>You wipe your forehead but instantly regret it when you smudge some monster goop on it
>you let out a groan and look around, and spot a rag of sorts and start cleaning your face and hooves up
“Let’s take a look”
>The yellow mare starts undoing your little makeshift splint
“Is Snow ok?”
>Honey Mug has moved to the yellow mares side and is now glancing at your hoof
“Yeah, could you go and sit over there Honey?”
>Honey mug goes back to sitting and staring at the floor as the yellow mare starts inspecting your hoof closer
>You instantly feel a sharp stab of pain in your hoof
>”Do you even know what you’re doing?”
>The mare glances at you while looking at you like you made a bad joke, but then she looks like she just remembered something
“Oh right, your memory...”
>The yellow mare puts the parts of your splint away and clears her throat
“I’m Soothing Plume, the village teacher and the school nurse”
>She gives you an awkward smile and looks at Honey Mug
“And her adoptive mother”
>You raise an eyebrow
>”Adopt? I thought I was supposed to be doing something like that...”
>Soothing Plume lets out a little giggle
“You? What gave you that idea?”
>You cringe as Soothing Plume inspects your hoof
>”Barnacle”
>Soothing Plume pauses for a second before continuing
“I’m sorry to hear about him, you two were such good friends”
>You shake your head
>”Can’t even remember the guy”
>Soothing Plume pauses again
“Can you remember anything at all of the time you lost to the flower?”
>You notice she glances at Honey Mug for a brief moment
>”Are you worried about the filly?”
>Soothing Plume suddenly drops whatever she was holding in her hooves and stops
“...yes, yes I am”
>Soothing Plume sighs and looks at the depressed-looking Honey Mug
“Ever since her parents died away and she came to live with her grandparents we grew closer and closer, and I came to care about her like she was my own.”
>She shakes her head
“It's hard to come in terms with all those moments being gone, all that healing her heart went trough...”
>You feel like you are about to deal with a very weepy mare if you do not direct this conversation somewhere else
>”There’s not a lot of children here. Did they...”
>You feel like punching yourself just after realizing you did not steer this conversation somewhere more happier and positive
>but thankfully it does not make her more sad, in fact she smiles a little
“No, every other foal except for Honey Mug is on a field trip, and thankfully so, they won’t have to be here, to live trough this...this...horrible experience”
>Soothing Plume lets out a sigh
“I hope they are not giving too much trouble for Miss Chalk”
>Suddenly Soothing Plume gets up and gives you a smile
“All done”
>Huh, you did not even notice it, she’s given you a proper splint
>You cautiously set your hoof down and notice that it does not hurt when you put weight on it
“It’s not broken, just sprained, you should be able to move around with it now”
>You take a few steps
>”Thank you, it’s not as painful anymore”
>But before she can say anything else the ponies gather near you again and start asking questions
>”Stop. Why are you all coming to me?”
>The ponies all look at you funny, even Soothing Plume
>a gray stallion speaks first
“You’re the last one of that special group send here! Of course you’ll know what to do!”
>Another one joins him
“Yeah, now that Barnacle’s gone we need you to lead us! We’re just simple farmers and traders!”
>A mare scoffs at the other stallion
“Speak for yourself...”
>Soothing Plume also joins in
“We should keep waiting for the recue like Barnacle thought right?”
>The other mare cuts in
“No, that’s a bad plan! We need to find a way to escape!”
>And by now they are almost fighting with one another
>Your head is starting to throb again, and it’s a high time for these ponies to shut the hell up
>”ENOUGH!”
>All the ponies stop and look at you
>”I don’t know any of you, but I am planning on getting out from Axmoth”
>there’s a lot more happy faces after your proclamation
“But what about the resc-“
>You interrupt Soothing Plume
>”I am not even sure if one is coming. I lost my memory and I have no idea of knowing if I actually delivered a message or not. And frankly I do not feel like sticking around even if one is coming with those things running all over the place and that white stuff spreading”
>one of the stallions speaks next
“How will we do it? Once you touch the wall you get cocooned, I have seen it with my own eyes”
>”I don’t know”
>There’s gasps but then suddenly one of the ponies pipes in
“No, I’ve seen that it does not affect inanimate objects”
>You look at the younger stallion
>”Is that true?”
>He nods and you grin
>This is good information, maybe...
>”We’ll build a ladder”
>That works on turning a few heads, but before they can start questioning more you continue talking
>”A three-part ladder we can use to climb over it, use it as a bridge once at the top and then to climb down”
>This makes the ponies murmur amongst one another
>One of them wearing a construction hat raises her hoof
“I can help build it!”
>A nerdy looking stallion raises his hoof too
“I can design it, I’m an engineer”
>You can’t help but to smile a little
>”Good, if we work hard we can get it done by tomorrow, we need to prepare some torches an-2
>You’re interrupted once again
“No, no fire, the rot is highly flammable. We’d trap ourselves in the fire if we’re not careful”
>That’s something you did not know either
>”I’m going to need to know everything you ponies know that might help with this plan, but first I need to go and scout out a-“
>Soothing Plume walks in front of you
“No, you’re hurt and you need to rest. We’ve got plenty of good ponies who can surely do it for you”
>You shake your head
>”Just let me rest for a while an-“
“There’s not much daylight left”
>You close your mouth and sigh
>Honey Mug surprises you by hugging your hoof
“Don’t go...”
>Before you can answer her a few ponies walk in front of you
“We’ll go and scout where we can try getting across the wall”
>”No wai-“
>They’re gone already, and the crowd is starting to break up as well into small groups, all chatting away how they are going to help and get out of this nightmare
>You just sigh and pry Honey Mug off of you as Soothing Plume ushers her off to somewhere and tells you to get some rest
>You sit down and rub your face
>Where is this all going, how capable are these ponies? Can you trust they’ll get the job done? Can you trust them at all? Being a leader? Ugh...
>now you’ve got a head-ache
>that drink, you could really do one now
>And with that in mind you get up and make your way to the closest group to you
>They’re too absorbed in designing this ladder device to notice you approaching, going over ideas in what you can only describe as a very desperate and spend voices
>”Is there anything to drink in here?”
>one of the ponies points you towards a few tables with food on them
>Your stomach gives a groan as you walk over to it, reminding that you have not eaten much
>A pony gives you some rations at the table and you sit down to eat
>you were more than pissed when you heard that there’s no alcohol, but once you saw the grub you got so hungry that instead of lying down and being angry you decided to eat something
>as you bite into your cloth sandwich you notice Honey Mug staring at you from the table she’s sitting in with Soothing Plume
>She averts her eyes right away from yours so you ignore her
 >After eating you talked with some ponies, mostly asking for information, but you did not learn much
>all new things you learned were that other ponies too noticed that the creatures have changed, the white rot and its spores are extremely flammable
>No luck on gaining any information on the ponies that came to the village with you, what were their names again, Mosscoat and Hazel Heart
>You wonder if they are out there
>they could probably tell you everything about yourself
>You decide to lie down for a while, but before you know it your eyes fall close as you’re embraced by a comfy bedding after such a long while...