The big pony was stunned by this visage, but only for a moment. It was not his first encounter with magic, but his knowledge was in much darker territory. He looked with his bloodshot eyes at this... "Queen", and spoke in his deep, gruff, growling voice, each word seemingly isolated, slight pauses in between each. "New. Life? .......Mmm....... Yes. Life. I'm. Dead...... But... Don't. Know. Where. I. Am. Where... You. Are. Don't. Know... Don't... Know..." He kept muttering those two words over and over again, eyes darting everywhere, pupils shaking...
"Tin cans.." Ayeda muttered, looking down at the ground in thought. After a moment, she looked back up at the western pony. "How do we wrangle him?" she asked, about to gesture a hoof to the wraith, but looked at the weapon at the end of her arm, and thought better of it.
Blue looked at the pony with thr hat as well. "Good question." she said as she looked at the creature. It was... Creepy to say the least, and odd to see. She was not that used to being a metal pony, if you could call her like that, and beig called tin can was not helping at all, but blue said nothing and just focused on their current problem
"You ain't been told? All right, try talkin' to him. Calm him down while I go find a seed." She parts from them, heading back to her equipment. "Hey! Rainbow! You gonna be OK?" She was met with an affirmative, painful groan as she hoists herself up. "All according to plan..." The ghost was still skittish, backing away against a wall. It was snarling, lost without it's pack and just searching for a way out. The Queen rolls her eye, sighing in irritation as she trots aroubnd him. "Shut up! You're wearing down the good will recognising me gave you. You seem just the kind of pony-shaped grenade I want for a mission such as this. Just follow my plans and shoot other ghosties and we'll be cool. Cool?" She raises a hoof to shake.
Ayeda would have frowned if felt it would do anything. Did she have facial expressions? After this was over, she would have to do some experiments. The capabilities of her new form were mysterious yet full of possibility. She approached the wraith cautiously. When she felt that she was close enough to talk, she opened her mouth, and hesitated. Exactly how do you address a spirit? And a rampant one to boot? "Hello..?" she decided smoothly. Try to talk normally at first, and go from there. If all else failed, she could always go the "Easy, boy" route, as if talking to a cornered wolf.
"How am I weak?!" It snarled, backing up against a wall. "Promiced strength but you took it. Week again. Stay away! S-sstay away." It then tils it's head back and howls, loudly. The elongated cry tears across the scene, echoing out too nopony. He sits for a moment, looking around, expectantly. In the uncomfortable silence, there was nothing returning the call. It's ears appear to droop. It appears to be dejected panic on it's face.
"Shh," Ayeda said gently. Despite it's fearsome appearance, Ayeda felt pity for the creature. "We're not going to hurt you. We just want to talk." That wasn't strictly true. Ayeda had no idea what was going to happen to him. Was being wrangled painful? She pushed away the thought, and continued talking in a low, smooth voice. It was her 'mature adult' voice, and she felt a momentary stab in her heart as she remembered her sister. "You are not weak. Look at us! It took four of us to get you to this point. We want to help, but we can't do that until you answer a couple questions for me, okay?" she asked the fearful creature. pushing away unwanted memories. She couldn't think about that now.
Something certainly happened. Calm. Eerily calm, and very still, his eyes no longer pulsating. Quiet. So very quiet. Not so much as a hushed breath escaped him, and it was hard to tell if he was breathing at all. He smiled a crooked smile, stained yellow teeth and whiskey fueled breath so strong it retained through death. A huge hoof met this princess'. "I am at your service..."
Still uncomfortable, it shimmers for a moment as it's body appears to almost deflate. Legs turned to thin, shaking sticks. It's ribcage clearly shown on the whithered body. It lost the wolfen features, replaced with a gaunt, defeated demeanour. "OK..." She shakes. "Great!" She pulls herself back, sitting on her hind quarters while she appraises the pony before her. "I think we'll skip the orientation. Welcome to the afterlife new employee. You, as a topside agent, now carry the something something and spirit of blah blah blah and stuff. Now, amscray!" She waves the slow moving stench from her nose just as he started to rise from the floor. At an ever expanding rate, he shot through the soil and the roots like a burrowing torpedo. Everything adding to the vertigo, everything blurring by the speed. Blink and you've already passed through it. That was until he wakes up on a shelf. He fan's feel his legs.
Blue simply looked at the creature and the mare beside her talk to him. She decided to remain silent. Why? Well, she had never been good for such things. She was a member of the royal equestrian navy, and the way she treated her ponies... she was not the best for this task, besides, this mare seemed to be doing it rather well. Why come in and screw it over? There was no need for her to intervine at all for now
Ayeda smiled, but she was careful to keep the momentary spark of pride out of her voice. The connection she had made with the creature was still brittle, and she had to proceed carefully. "Thank you," she said gently. "Now, can you please tell me who promised you this power?"
(Sorry! Life has been going ballistic for me recently!) "No." The spirit said, shaking his head. "Never tell. Can't tell. Shouldn't tell. If you don't hurt me, ask another but not traitor. Will not tell." He seems to grow a little smaller at that. His eyes darting around, looking for possible spies or assassins from every corner. He drew himself up, stoking him up for a flight after fighting didn't work out for him.
(No worries! I've been out too.) Ayeda cocked her head, and thought for a moment. "You seem to be very afraid, my friend," she said sympathetically. "We can help you. You are safe here. We would never try to hurt you." She shrugged, and the movement was smooth and slow. "Besides, you were promised power, am I correct? Whoever has made this promise to you..." She hesitated, "Well, it seems that they have not delivered." "If my friends and I wanted to, we could have hurt you. This being that you show such loyalty to would have thrown you to the wolves. Had my companions and I not been as forgiving, you would be in quite a lot of trouble, and this being that promised to help you would be nowhere to be found. That seems fairly traitorous to me, don't you agree?" She sat down casually, trying to display a level of comfort that she hoped conveyed hospitality. "Meanwhile," she continued, her voice lower and friendlier, "my friends and I have not hurt you, even though we could very easily, and all we would like in return is a few answers regarding this very rude being who has not given you the power you deserve."
The spirit appeared to grow even more anxious, now visibly shrinking into itself like a frightened puppy. "Can't say anything. Shouldn't say anything. Roseb-bud, Galvinised promiced, below the city of-" The spirit was suddenly cut off as a bright light forms beside it within a metal ring. Within an instant, a fat root burst from the ground, growing towards the spirit to then suck the creature down it's length and deep into the ground, flushing it away forever. "There! Had a spare Root Finder thing. You kept it busy?" Applejack asks as she approaches Ayeda.
Ayeda had backed away with a small yelp as the roots burst from the group. After a moment, she turned angrily to Applejack. "Why would you do that?!" she asked. "It was about to tell me information!" She shook her head, and raised her hoof to her temples, rubbing away a imagined headache. "You know, capturing them like that may not be the best way to go about this. It was on our side. It was trusting me." Perhaps it was reminiscent of her fierce protectiveness for her sister, but Ayeda was surprised at the cauldron of fury she felt bubbling inside her. That spirit deserved better. It was scared. That would be a terrible way to go. She stamped out the anger like a fire, and sighed. That visceral type of reaction tended to alter her mood, and it made her grumpy and unkind. "So, now that we have effectively destroyed that bond, what do we do next?"
"Hey! It's a ghost! That's what we do. We send 'em back down to where they came from for whatever the Queen of the Dead wants for them. If we could chat to them and convince them to stop goin' completely cow pie crazy, we'da done that by now." Applejack collects up the remains of the trap. It appeared to be a ring around a broken glass container. "Now! You two head back tot the Proffessor or you go do whatever your programming says. I don't know what you do but I ain't gonna stand in the way. I gotta get Rqinbow patched up. See y'all later."
"I agree with her. You shouldn't had done that." Blue soon said as she started to walk towards where they were. She then sighed. What could be done now? It was already done... So they now had to go back perhaps? Or what to do next?! Their programming? She didn't remembered being programmed or something. Perhaps the professor would know more... "We should go as well." Blue soon said to Ayeda
Ayeda was muttering to herself. "'It's what we do!'" she mimicked after Applejack had left. It wasn't her fault, of course. She couldn't have known that Ayeda was trying to get through to the spirit. Despite this, Ayeda was still bitter. "'We'da done that by now,'" she continued. "I was getting information!" She stamped her hoof in frustration, and looked up to the sky, counting in her head and matching her breaths. After a moment, she looked back down to the ground, and the ghost's last words were coming back to her. "What did it say?" Ayeda turned to Blue. "Galvanized promised below a city? Something about roses?"
