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 Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 4:46 pm
 The forest at the Phonyland Amusement Park could be just as elegant or as creepy as any other. It was the slight creepiness that had Mandrake sneak off to the forest around dusk, when the animals were starting to tuck themselves in and be replaced by those who wanted to eat others. Owls, wolves, gwees, whatever other weird creatures were on Gaia. All of the birds had stopped tweeting for the day and were holing up protectively in their nests. Except for one, anyway. While Mandrake was distracted by a particularly strange and colorful plant, a short and faint tweet caught her attention and she listened carefully. A few seconds passed and it came again, tweet. The sound was weak, maybe a little desperate, and her brows furrowed with confusion. Giving a quick glance to her surroundings so she could come back to the flower later, the dark filly trotted off in the direction of the faint chirps. It was close by, or else she wouldn't have heard it at all, but she had to climb over and under a few logs and cross a small creek along the way. When she got to where the chirping was loudest, there was another phony in the area with long two-toned hair. "Hey," she called, approaching the other filly who seemed to be peering down at something, "What's tha--" Tweet! "H-hey! What are you doing to it?!" her voice came out louder than intended and the light green bird shrunk in on itself, shivering. It still looked young. Maybe it had fallen out of the nest.
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 5:06 pm
Though her mother was generally quite adamant about the young ones staying in her protective eye at night, Lovely Corpse always found it to be a bit more comfortable after the Sun had set. It was certainly more interesting, what with the prowlers of the night stretching their limbs after a long day’s rest and all. There was always the chance of meeting strange, new creatures, and that’s what peaked her interest the most.
Sure, it was a lot more dangerous, but what was life without a little risk? Besides, her father always made sure everything was okay before daring to go out and have adventures of her own.
After only a few minutes in, she had stumbled across the poor, defenseless hatchling crying out for its life. Mandrake’s assumption was correct; the poor thing had fallen and broken its wing upon impact. Its parents weren’t able to come to its rescue, sadly enough, but Corpse decided that it was her very own duty to watch over it. What she would do with it when all was said and done? The filly herself didn’t know, but there was most likely something to be done.
It wasn’t until voice, loud enough to startle the poor, minty filly, rang out in the usually quiet forest that Corpse’s attention was shifted from the injured fowl. Her glance shifted between her new companion and the bird, merely offering a big, goofy grin. ”’Allo,” she greeted, her eyes darting back down to the bird. ”Nothin,’ is hurt.” Sadly, that was the best explanation she could offer the new, darker filly.
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 5:15 pm
At first Mandrake was taken aback by the filly's voice, then she turned to look at the other Earth Phony and her orange eyes met strange, deep seated black ones. Her eyes widened at the glowing pupils, the tiny sharp curves of her mouth that looked like teeth, and she found herself wanting to back up. The bird chirped weakly again and she stopped herself, instead trying to hold her head high and look intimidating.
"D-did you hurt it?" with this other filly's appearance, Mandrake wouldn't have been surprised. She took a single step forward in an attempt at defiance, " 'Cause I'm not gonna let that go! Phonies aren't supposed to eat live meat..." Honestly, phonies probably weren't supposed to eat meat at all but it had come into some of their diets thanks to the denizens of Gaia outside needing to be catered to. Still, in her short life, she had never heard of a phony that ate birds.
Then again, she had never met Lovely Corpse's father.
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 5:24 pm
Mandrake’s accusation made Corpse’s smile shrink, but not by much. Why would she want to hurt a baby bird? That’s such a weird thing to blame someone of. Then again, she was so much more used to the manners of her siblings and parents, and this was the first time she had met another filly that wasn’t related. Were all of them like this?
”No,” she answered, her brows knitting upward while her smile somehow remained. While, for whatever reason, she had become fascinated with the injured thing, she wouldn’t have gone out of her way to hurt it. Not at all. ”she fell fro’ da tree.” she explained while nodding upward. She was able to hear the parents chirping madly, but couldn’t quite figure out why they hadn’t helped their spawn. ”T’inkin’ of takin’ it home.”
Despite her smile, Lovely Corpse’s confusion rose. She never thought about eating it, either. What was with this new phony, going on about such strange things?
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 5:38 pm
She looked up at where Corpse nodded, squinting and scrunching her brow. A concerned pout was on her face as she spotted the nest of the parents, their heads peeking out from the edge as they shrieked down at their fallen child and the two phonies surrounding it.
"Oh," she uttered plainly when she realized she had been completely mistaken, "Sorry."
Reaching up to rub her nose with the back of a hoof, Mandrake looked down at the injured bird. Her pout hadn't gone away but at least her eyes didn't have the same hard, accusatory glare they had before. However, when the macabre filly mentioned taking the bird home, she tilted her head a little. "Are you gonna make its wing better?" Maybe she had gotten this phony all wrong! Maybe she came from a family of doctors and veterinarians!
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 5:46 pm
Making it better? Corpse really didn’t understand what Mandrake meant, her glance once more flitting down to the injured bird. How do you fix a wing? Were baby birds able to fly, anyway? If it was, why did it fall? So many confusing questions for the young filly!
”Dunno how t’fix, dunno w’at I’ll do wit’ it.” Corpse admitted, offering a wide grin to Mandrake. Personally, she didn’t find anything odd with the concept; it sounded like quite the idea! Honestly, it’d be easier to take home and use dead, though she wasn’t sure what one would do with a dead bird. Maybe like a toy or a trophy? She didn’t know.
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 5:58 pm
Plopping on her rump and watching the bird, Mandrake was caught off guard by Corpse's strange reply. She gazed at the filly, confused, before letting out an awkward laugh. "What?" She was going to take it home but didn't know what to do with it? "D'you know what to feed it?" Her tone was a bit more terse as she gazed between the bird and phony, worry growing. Was she even going to feed it at all? ...What if the plan was not to feed it?
Did -- did she want the bird to die?!
"Wh-why don't you just get some help to give it back to its parents?!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:07 pm
”Mm? Par’nts can fix?” she asked, tilting her head at the filly’s suggestion. A long, cream colored strand of hair fell past Corpse’s face at the gesture, temporarily distracting her from the conversation as she watched it fall. After a few seconds, her strange gaze landed back on Mandrake, her grin ever permanent.
Thinking it over, Corpse shrugged. ”’Can eat phony food?” she asked in turn, her piercing eyes watching intently. Man, these other phonies sure were strange! Then again, this one seemed a lot like her mother, though she didn’t spend much time with her. Corpse usually stuck around her father most of the time, so it was no surprise where she got her manners and, well, general trains of thought.
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:17 pm
Mandrake stopped to consider what the other filly was asking. "Uh... n-no, the birds can't fix it but it's their baby. They should have it," she pursed her lips, brow furrowing more at this phony's strange mannerisms. It was hard to tell for sure but Mandrake would bet three carrots that this phony was three crayons short of a whole box. She seemed downright slow with how she spoke and the long pauses between her sentences.
Not to mention the awkward, silent staring....
"They don't eat the same things as us," she snapped quickly, digging the tip of her hoof into the dirt and looking down, "They eat worms and bugs and junk! Phonies don't eat those." Mandrake didn't know about the fact that when birds were young their mama's had to mash their food up for them first, otherwise she would have explained so in excruciating detail. "What would you do if you took it home and the thing starved?!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:24 pm
Thinking over the information just given to her, Corpse stared forward for a few minutes as if to process what exactly was said. Why would a mother and father want something they couldn’t fix? Why would the parents want their dead child? Bird funeral? Could birds have funerals? The concept was briefly explained to her, so it actually wasn’t that much of a strange concept for her, but birds? Birds couldn’t dig, that’s such a silly thing to suggest.
The teal coated filly’s next question forced Corpse to think it over once more. What would she do with it? ”Dunno, keep it? Show it?” she asked, the concept of respect for the dead quite lost on her. For as long as she could remember, she had been quite fascinated with the bodies of those who passed, sometimes wondering why other phonies didn’t keep them. Wouldn’t you want to keep something so important? Then again, that fed into Mandrake suggesting she give the baby back. Her brows furrowed as she looked back down at the dying bird.
”Just wan’ it, I guess.”
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:51 pm
Her jaw dropped then and there.
At the same time, the baby bird glanced up -- tired, hurt and confused -- to Lovely Corpse.
Mandrake raised her hoofs to her head and squished her cheeks with them. Slowly, very slowly, her mouth closed and twisted into a wry smile while her brows contorted into a strange combination of amusement and horror. Her chest rose and fell and there was a slight wheeze to her breath as it came out more forced, at least until the first slight ha.
"K-keep it...?" Mandrake chuckled nervously. "Show it?" There was a disgusted lilt to her tone, but her laughter picked up. Her hind legs lifted slightly and Mandrake's body craned back until she fell to the ground, looking up at the sky in the exact same expression. "Just - want it?" At that, her teeth grit harshly while she kept her awkward laughter going, increasing in volume until it was shrill and eerie. The bird shrank further back, away from both of them. "If it dies you just want to keep it?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" It was hard to tell whether Mandrake was laughing from sheer amusement or if she was legitimately horrified by this prospect and there was no other way she could reconcile her emotions. She kept chuckling to herself as she rolled on her side and went limp.
"You can't be serious! D-do you know how - how disgusting that is!?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 7:08 pm
Disgusting? Why would someone say something so hurtful? Corpse’s head tilted once again, her brows furrowing upward and her eyes filled with sadness, thought that strange smile of hers never left her maw. ”I don’ understan’ w’at ya mean…” she said, her voice rather defeated, though she couldn’t understand why. She looked back down at the bird as it tried to inch away as if it were going to give her the answers she was looking for.
”’Is pre’y, I t’ink it shouldn’ be hid’n ‘way if it dies.” Corpse defended, stomping her hoof. What right did this filly have to tell her she was disgusting? How mean!
Kneeling down, she gently nuzzled the baby into a standing position, offering her hoof as leverage so it wouldn’t fall again. She sat down next to it, her seemingly demented features locked onto Mandrake now. ”Why should it be thrown away if’in it dies? D’at’s mean! Is too pre’y ta be toss’ aside like rubbish!” And why was she laughing? It couldn't have been that strange!
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 7:53 pm
She didn't get it at all, this one. While Mandrake had met a couple strange fillies in her time, and End of an Era was certainly one of them, but this phony took the cake! What would she even say to her brothers and sister when she got home from this trip to the woods?! Better yet, if she stayed much longer trying to figure out why this weirdo wanted to keep a dead bird, what would she tell her parents so she wouldn't get in trouble?
No, no, she'd have to be honest. The thing was, she didn't want to leave yet. Mandrake shouldn't -- couldn't -- leave this injured bird in the hands of someone who was literally going to let it die just so she could show it off because it "looked pretty".
"There's no guarantee it'll die though!" she piped up finally, flailing her feet in the air before flopping to a sit and staring the other filly down. "If you got hurt, would your mommy and daddy just go 'OOPS, OH WELL, AT LEAST WE CAN KEEP HER BODY AND IT'LL LOOK NICE IN THE STABLE'?! If they did you'd have some big doodoo parents, that's for sure!" Mandrake glanced sympathetically to the young bird who had attempted to hobble away from its captor, as she once again saw it. "We could - we could take it somewhere. The first aid station's not far. They could find somebody to make its wing better."
She wasn't laughing anymore. This wasn't funny. It was sick.
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Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 9:47 pm
"I ain' said nothin' 'bout hurtin' it," she reared, her brows knit in frustration at this pony's accusations. The more she talked, the more she came off as mean. All of these words getting put in her mouth, how rude and assuming. No, she had no intention of hurting the poor thing. Lovely Corpse wasn't horrible, she wouldn't kill something for no reason. She even mentioned trying to feed it! "An' I ain' too keen on you talkin' for otha' ponies! S'rude and disrespectin'!"
Once again, she stomped her foot.
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Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 10:13 pm
This wasn't turning out right at all. Somewhere along the way this filly had completely misunderstood her and she was starting to get ornery about it! At the next stomp of her hoof, Mandrake furrowed her brows and took a deep breath. If she was going to handle this she had to calm down herself; them both getting heated wouldn't get anywhere and if she kept her cool then she would at least be seen as the more mature one by the end of it.
"Look," Mandrake said, lowering her head a little but keeping eye contact with Lovely Corpses dark irises, "I'm not tryin' to be mean here. All I'm sayin' is, before you go around talkin' about showin' it off while it's dead, we should try our best to make sure it stays alive. So, are we just gonna sit here rantin' at each other--" Mandrake Blossom reared up with both feet and stomped her hooves in front of Lovely Corpse without breaking her gaze, "--or are we gonna help this poor thing while it's hurting?"
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