Everfree Forest Don't Call My Name, Alejandro

[Neon Pop]

·.·• Neon Pop •Ã‚·.·

"Aleeejaaaandroooo?!" Screamed the all to bright pop star, as she trudged through the muck and thick foliage of the Everfree forest. Shockingly, Neon wasn't dressed in anything outlandish, no sunglasses, today, Neon was a regular looking pony, well despite the bright neon colors. Her orange orbs started to fill with tears as she called for her trusted pet alligator. "Alejandrooo? Where are you?! Why did you leave me?!" Neon hic-sniffled, clipping her hoof on an uprooted root and fell face first into the marsh like muddy ground with a splatter. Those glowing lights on her legs dimmed and her cutie mark flickered as it it was a read neon light. Just... what happened to bring her here?

The morning started out just fine. Nothing out of the ordinary anyway, Neon got up, took a nice relaxing bath, read the paper, ate breakfast, and jotted down some songs. Though she had been so busy lately recording, Neon really wasn't paying attention to anything else, and to one particular pet, it started to get on his last nerve. Unlike for Neon, Alejandro's week didn't start off like any other. It started off with him waking, dragging his fat self to her room, and awaiting the usual "Good morning my widdle, scawy, fatty gator!" but... it never came. Neon was so wrapped up with her work, she took care of herself, quickly fed him and went to record. All he got, and had been getting was a hoof pat on his head.

At first it was something he decided to let slide, least she was feeding him. Though when he followed her around practically begging with those sinister eyes of his for her to cuddle him, and she ignored it, that was when he started to draw the line. She wasn't swimming with him in their massive pool, she wasn't sun bathing with him, no mud baths, no working on lyrics atop his back, nothing! It was food tossed to him and leave. So by the end of the week, Alejandro snorted as he watched her go on and on figuring out a song, and turn tail, and left.

This morning though started out fine for Neon Pop, that was till after breakfast when she looked to her side expecting Alejandro, and not seeing him. Curious, she walked around the house, calling for the beast, looking in his usual spots, growing more and more worried that she was unable to find him. It was when she looked out side, and saw Alejandro's footsteps in the thick green grass, heading out of her back yard. She screamed and immediately took off, following the trail the giant lizard left behind, only until his tracks vanished deep in the heart of Everfree.

Which puts us to where Neon is now, knee deep in mud and muck, dragging her now matted tail behind her, sobbing and calling for her best friend. She wasn't quiet about searching for him, oh no. She was making as much a ruckus as she could, despite the evil eyes on her through the bushes. She took to searching the swamp, only cause... well where else would a gator go? Only proplem was, the further she got the harder her hooves were sticking in the mud. "Al-e-jan-drooo...! Pleeeeaaase?!" Neon cried desperately, though she let out a sharp shriek, and fell chest high in the mud. Neon though wasn't real t.v. friendly so she never saw episodes of Stallion Grylls and how to get your self out of sticky situations such as quick sand, or things of the like. So... naturally, she started to squirm and struggle. However... her cries for her friend, quickly vanished and turned to pleas.

"Somepony!! Oh my pony stars... Somepony help me!! Ugh!! HEEELP!"

[SKX]

~Carnation Split

Go out for a few seconds and Sunny wanders into the Everfree forest. Wonderful. He looked around for one of those smiley faces she put up everywhere when a sudden shriek rang through the forest. He jumped back in fear, whimpering. "What are you doing Carnation, get a hold of yourself!" He looked around, there was somepony who needed help! The shriek, which was now a direct calling for somepony to save them was coming from beside him. He pushed back a few huge leaves with magic and looked out over the swamp. He looked down to see a pony struggling in the mud. Her somewhat faded neon mane was covered in mud. "Oh geez oh geez oh geez." He looked quickly side to see if there was something to save her with.There was no life preserver anywhere! He grabbed a vine next to him and jumped off the ledge, and began to dash over to her. He could feel the mud slowing him down, but managed to get over to her anyway. He stopped at the edge of the muck pit that she was sinking into. "Grab on!" He exclaimed, tossing the vine towards her, keeping the other end in his mouth.

[RCTwilightSparkle]

It wasn't the nicest day out but Lily really needed to find more wild flowers for her garden so she put on her brave face and left her house headed for the Everfree forest. I've been lacking on wildflowers lately and some of the shops have been asking for them, so maybe I can find enough to breed some myself and I won't have to come back here for a while. While she didn't like the Everfree forest she wasn't as scared as most ponies to venture into it, maybe because of all the pretty plants a pony could find in there, it was worth it for Lily. She hummed a little song that Pinkie Pie got stuck in her head the other day, that silly filly is always singing! she giggled to herself as her horn glowed a soft pink and flowers were pulled neatly from the earth, roots and all into her saddlebags.

The little unicorn heard someone yelling in the distance and they sounded like they were in trouble! she dropped what she was doing right in the middle of a big patch of flowers and took off as quickly as she could towards the source of the noise. Unfortunately this wasn't very quick because Lily is quite a little unicorn for her age. By the time Lily could hear what the other pony was saying she heard "Al-e-jan-drooo...! Pleeeeaaase?!" Now it was easier to figure out exactly where she was hearing it from and she ran right towards the upset voice. "Somepony!! Oh my pony stars... Somepony help me!! Ugh!! HEEELP!" "I'm here! Lily yelled nervously "My name is Lily and I'm from Ponyville, I still don't see exactly where you are but I'm going to try to help! Say something else!"

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble Rose, following along after Lily, tilted his head to the side. He tossed his long white mane out of the way as the diminutive purple unicorn tried to listen, too. He paused, one leg lifted in front of him nervously, as he tried to pinpoint the source of the voice.

"I heard it too," he said, softly, "I know it..."

[Neon Pop]

ooc: just giving a heads up, spring break has been murder on us where i work, so i'm freaking tired as hell. i will be posting tomorrow since things will have cooled down and i'm not so damn tired and... feeling uncreative. thanks for everyones patience, i hate to keep ya'll waiting, its just been a hard week!

i will edit this post later with the IC post. ~ Neon

[Dio]

Diomedes

Diomedes Ironwing took in deep lungfulls of mountain air, his muscles burning from the climb, but his head feeling plenty good from the adrenaline pumping through his veins. The air at the top of Dragon Mountain was fresh and crisp; just cool enough to sharpen the senses, just warm enough to get the blood moving. Dio reached behind him and removed a canteen from his harness, taking a long swig. A break would be required before he could continue his training run. His usual high-altitude flights involved more gliding than physical exertion and altitude sickness was the last thing he needed. He had to admit, though, that the conditioning was paying off. The first time, he hadn't even made it halfway up the mountain before he had to stop to rest. Now, he could make it to the entrance to the Dragon's Lair without becoming winded.

The Pegasus felt his heart rate going down and took a deep breath, steeling himself for the next part of his training run. Dio spread his wings to their full extension and leaped off the ledge, coasting for a few hundred yards horizontally before folding his wings, sending him into a steep dive, nearly parallel to the cliff face. His heart was pounding now as the crags he had just climbed flew past at lightning speed. He carefully adjusted his flight feathers, subtly altering his hypervelocity course so he slipped between the rock outcroppings and sparse evergreens like water running through sand.

The red pegasus' mane flapped in the wind, his tail streaming out behind him as he plummeted from altitude. Though the drop could not have lasted for more than a couple seconds, Diomedes felt like he was suspended in space and time. But as the tree line rapidly approached, time seemed to speed up to normal again. Dio opened his wings slightly for better control, manipulating his feathers to rapidly adjust the oncoming airstream so he could twist and turn around the onrushing kaleidoscope of green and brown.

Left. Right. Left. Left. Twist. Break.

He was deep in Everfree Forest now, slowly leveling off as Dragon Mountain faded into the rolling foothills just west of Ponyville. This section was tough. There was hardly any time to react and the slightest mistake would mean a concussion or broken bones. He trusted the inherent magical physiology of Pegasus ponies to protect his wings from light impact and aerodynamic stress, but wasn't counting on it to protect his skull from head-on collision with a tree.

Right. Left. Right. Twist. Roll.

Dio was home free. Just a few more trees and…

"Somepony!! Oh my pony stars... Somepony help me!! Ugh!! HEEELP!"

What in Equestria??? The filly's voice was faint, but just enough to break Dio's concentration. The red Pegasus' eyes widened as a tree approached at an alarming speed. Diomedes snapped his left wing shut to avoid damage and twisted to avoid hitting the trunk head-on. It worked. Almost.

CRASH!

Diomedes clipped the tree at full speed, pulling off shreds of bark and leaving behind bits of fur and feathers. Dio winced at the pain; he knew it drew blood, but he didn't have time to think about it. Instead his thoughts were focused on slowing down to a safe velocity. The red Pegasus snapped his other wing shut and closed his eyes as his roll took his right side straight into the undergrowth. His high speed combined with his high mass ensured that he skidded at least ten yards through the mess of roots, rocks, twigs, and leaves on the forest floor, leaving devastated shrubbery and turned-over dirt in his wake. He tumbled as he slid, finally coming to rest at the base of a large oak tree, face pointing skyward and legs and wings in a tangled mess around him.

Dio shook his head to clear his vision and slowly rolled over enough to where he could get back on his feet. Every muscle in his body was sore from the crash, but he wasn't concussed. He moved his wings slowly and stamped his feet on the ground to test their mobility. Nothing was broken and everything seemed to be in working order. The worst injuries would be a mass of cuts and scrapes and a handful of bruises. Dio snorted at his own luck. As Papa Ari always said, any crash you can walk away from is a good one.

As he shook the dirt and debris off himself, Diomedes heard another voice, this one male. This one was indistinct, but the tonality was stressed. Taking a quick listen, Diomedes guestimated an approximate heading and took off at full gallop. Crashing through the underbrush was a lot different than flying through it. All sorts of little stickers and debris stuck to his fur and mane and dug into his skin. But Dio didn't care. Someone was in trouble, and he wasn't going to just let it go over a fashion gripe.

As he crashed through the last cluster of shrubbery, he spotted the trouble: it was marshland. All of it. Opening his wings and delivering mighty flaps, he cleared the muddy water before he became mired in it, alighting on a nearby rock. From there, he spotted a salmon-colored unicorn with red hair wading into the mud, a vine in his mouth. A second unicorn's head was just barely visible above the surface of the water some distance away; locks of many colors adorning her head.

Neon Pop? Dio thought incredulously.

'Hey!' Diomedes shouted to both unicorns. 'I'm here to help!'

The big Pegasus kept his wings open, ready to lift off and assist at a moment's notice.