Roaming, restless [After Dungeon Keeper]

[morganknight]

Morgan was restless.

When restless, he tended to roam the ship, checking on things he knew of, or seeking out places he didn't out of curiosity. Today was a little of both. After the pitched battle in Hydroponics, he felt a particular obligation towards one plant in particular: the apple tree he'd helped Applejack grow from a seed. For all that he'd done his best to contain Hydroponic in the fight, he hadn't been able to do anything specific to protect that plant.

Done there, he headed back down in the City, off to one particular place that had caught his interest when he had heard about it: an 'air temple'. Not on the map, not listed in the directory, or he'd have wandered over just to take a look a long time ago. Now that he'd heard about it, well...

Time to investigate.

[OOC: Just say where you find him; it can be pretty much anywhere, since his trip covers a lot of ground across the ship.]

Comments

[morganknight]

"I have friends in there too. Both from on the ship, and before," he said, reaching over to rest a comforting hand on Applejack's shoulder. He figured that gesture translated well enough. "It'll be all right."

[appletastic]

It translated just fine. Applejack leaned in, gently butting her head against his arm.

"Sure it will. Just gotta work harder at protecting 'em, right? Starting with this fighting business."

[morganknight]

"Yeah, they're lucky! They get to nap while we do all the work!"

It was a pretty poor joke, and he knew it, but they were getting too somber.

[appletastic]

"Those doggone slackers!" Applejack pipes up, trying to help him out. "Why when they wake up, we oughta show 'em how much we did."

When. Not if, when.

She straightened up, gently tapping Bloomington with a hoof. "Anyway, the farm's fine. You don't have to worry about us!"

[morganknight]

"You think that's going to stop me from worrying just a little anyway?" he said, folding his arms and pretending to look stern. The smile ruined it.

[appletastic]

"It should! We've got a whole barrel of problems," she said sternly, though that wasn't entirely serious either. "This place didn't get off so bad. I tried to get down to the City, it's worse."

She recalled all the broken buildings and frightened critters, out of the ones that still lived. "So...there's really nothing happening here yet. Fruit might take a little longer to pop up."

[morganknight]

"That's where I was heading next, actually. Though now I find myself not in such a hurry to get there." Hydroponics was fairly peaceful, especially here by the tree.

He leaned back, then flopped backwards to sprawl out on the ground. Dignity, what was that?

[appletastic]

Applejack joined him on the grass, tipping her hat over her eyes.

"Why not? You'd rather keep Bloomington company?"

[morganknight]

"It's nice up here. Quiet, calm, good company... I can pretend nothing is wrong for a little while, even if I know it's a lie." He spread his arms on the grass, stretching, then folded them behind his head. "Mostly the company. I'm unusually lonely at the moment."

He probably would not be talking like this to someone who was not a pony, admittedly.

[appletastic]

Oh, Morgan, why did you have to worry her so? Applejack made her worried face over him for a few moments, eventually settling for laying her head on his arm. It was the least she could do.

"I'm sorry she's been taken back. I know it's hard, losing people you're close with. But you've got a few of us 'round these parts."

[morganknight]

"Oh, it's just the timing. My best friend from before, Stephen? He's missing too. I'm really hoping he's just running mazes, but I haven't heard or seen anything official on that."

He said this all casually, lightly, as if it were no big deal, though the fact that he was saying it all betrayed its meaning to him. He looked over at Applejack with a smile, though.

"Do you have werewolves, where you come from?"

[appletastic]

"They'll tell ya soon, won't they?" Applejack worried about that too. Where were her friends? Oh, she knew where Rainbow Dash was, the loud pony was impossible to miss, but what about Rarity and Pinkie Pie? She'd have to hope they were all right.

"Can't say I know 'em, no. But I do know wolves. Why?"

[morganknight]

"Just curious, actually. I was thinking about my sister. She's probably in the pods too, but I have no guarantees of that one way or the other." Of course, it didn't occur to him to explain what a werewolf is, even if AJ didn't know about them. Smart, Morgan.

[appletastic]

Wow. That was weird. Applejack knew Morgan could bend things and do just about anything, but that line of heritage was just bizarre.

"Your sister's a wolf?" she asked, skeptical.

[morganknight]

"A werewolf," he said, NOW realizing that he ought to explain. "She can turn from a human into a wolf, or a hybrid of the two. My dad was one too, and my mom was descended from them, so my sister inherited it."

[appletastic]

"What in the..."

Now that was just weird. She knew there were all kinds of creatures, but ones that could change?

"So your family are wolves sometimes? Must be...different."

[morganknight]

He nodded. "It is. But they were born human, so that's what they're most used to being. They're still people, regardless of what they look like on the outside," he said with a grin. After all, who was he talking to?

[appletastic]

"Right," she nodded. Far be it from her to judge anypony on what they could or couldn't do. "S'just a little odd. I'm meeting shape-changers for the first time up here. Always thought it was bad magic back home."

[morganknight]

"Magical shapeshifting isn't the same as natural shapeshifting," he said, not really helping with clarity and understanding. "Some of the ways people change shape magically can be very bad magic indeed, I won't pretend otherwise."

[appletastic]

Congratulations, Morgan, you've successfully confused her further?

"When you say 'bad', do you mean bad like 'hurts for them to change' or like 'they hurt everypony else when they change'?"

Oh, she'll need time to think about magic vs. natural too, but the tendency is to fear the bad stuff.

[morganknight]

"Both can happen. It all depends on how you do it. Some people would use blood sacrifice to do it, for example... not a practice I recommend," he said with a grim smile.

[appletastic]

"...Blood sacrifice?"

Applejack's ears flattened against her head. She made a noise of disgust, gently pawing at the ground. "Well I hope your family's all right, anyway."

[morganknight]

"My twin sister is probably in the pods. As for my adopted family... I can't be sure. I hope they are." He spoke without particular inflection, keeping the worry and fear at a safe and measured distance. Dwelling on it served nothing.

[appletastic]

"I sure hope so too," Applejack whispered. She wasn't quite as successful at keeping the worry for her family out her voice, she never was. But as far as she knew, those robots hadn't taken down any ponies.

She lowered her head onto her front legs, deep in thought. "Just gotta give it all time. The trees'll bounce back. Us too."

[morganknight]

"Never give up, never back down, never let 'em take you without making them pay for the attempt, right?" The sentiment was stubborn and maybe a little bloodthirsty, but he said it with a smile. Anything to yank this conversation out of the dark paths it's gone down. "At least it's an adventure?"