FlimFlam

Well there certainly is the start of some evidence forming here, but its just too early to tell. I can't think of anything that would make my guess more then a swing in the dark.

No vote.

Oh, that sounds like a plan. Mind if I tag along? I do love a good mystery.

Riddle spoke in a rather vibrant tone "Oh I don't doubt that you do. If I did know every riddle I wouldn't have much to do, now would I?"

He would have added something else, but just then the hired help showed up. Which was a touch distracting. Some hired help actually did seem useful... That would certainly make the trip shorter (He had forgotten completely about seeing them earlier).

Nodding towards Daisy, he gave a smile "I think we've put off starting long enough, so we might as well." With that, he started walking.

Wait wait wait... what? Connor was... taken? Barricades? DERPY?!?

How in Equestria did I miss this?

At least do we have anything to work with?

Amber smiled and traded the bits out for the gem. That certainly worked out nicely. She also nodded as the dragon explained her past. The irony was not lost on her, meeting something of an opposite of her. "Well, I can certainly agree with your size problem. I spent the first few years of my childhood thinking I would get bigger, but I never really did get that much larger."

She did understand the greed problem. Having struggled with the same thing, she sometimes couldn't even help herself from stealing a thing or two.

"So wait... you were raised by ponies? I can only imagine that one. Being the small fish in a big pond is one thing, but being the large fish in a small pond would be frustrating"

Perhaps this was the main irony, but she never really saw herself living in a pony city. She never really completed related anywhere, and she certainly loved caves...

North Star looked around through the darkness. With any luck, he would be able to see the pegasus, but he was mainly looking for that hissing sound. The longer it seemed to go on, the more frequent it became, which did not bode well. His eyes were starting to adjust to the shadows, but not nearly enough to see much of anything, so he was going to have to play this through memory. It would be safe to just follow along the cliff, but that certainly made it difficult if that hissing thing followed. He couldn't see what it was yet, which meant it probably wasn't smart to go off into the forest. So that pretty much left the first option.

He perked up when the pegasus spoke. "Well, I suppose it could be a snake, but they rarely get large enough to eat ponies. I suppose it could be a cockatrice..." At this, North Star paused in thought "Wait, can cockatrices hiss?" If it did turn out to be that, the darkness probably helped out there, after all you can't stare into something's eyes if you can't see it. Of course, the Everfree was big, and it could very easily be something else. Snapping back to attention, he called out

"You know, I don't really want to stick around to see what it is. Now would be a good time to follow me. Hurry please!" North Star was rather anxious. He still didn't know how injured the pegasus was (although she seemed fairly ok to him at the time) but it was now or never. Hoping she could follow the sound of his voice, he started quickly walking along the cliff face. If they could escape the hissing noise and get to some light, perhaps he could get some bearings and find a better route back to the clearing.

"Sounds like quite the family then!" Amber thought for a moment. Wine&Dine's family certainly seemed interesting, but they were quite the large group. She never did well with large groups, and she had very little social talent when it came to maneuvering them. Besides, a nice cafe certainly seemed like an interesting place to eat."I suppose the cafe sounds nice. I mean, if its all the same to you, that is."

She hoped the cafe was someplace quiet. Any crowds might prove unnerving, as the always seemed to do.

Hello everypony! Did I miss anything?

I think I heard somepony mention changelings on the way over... I hope nopony was hurt...

Well, like I said, I get around. Kinda like a circle.

Also, I don't cheat. In front of others. I prefer to sneak around, keep it discreet. You never saw anything, yet.

Well, you know, I take my time but I get around.

Or something like that. Maybe not.

At the very least I get around at a fairly average to slow pace with a touch of speed.

Yes.

FlimFlaaaaaam! : D

I've seen you arouuuuuuund!

And you seem like a pretty koo pony.

Unfortunately, you'll prolly never post here again :I

Posted here again. take that.

Welcome! We hope you have fun, and you stay sane!

"Looks like we're all here, because I know we're not all there."

Sane? My dear sir, if I had a dollar for everytime I told someone I was sane, I would have exactly zero dollars.

Mentally, Amber sighed. She always forgot normal ponies never ate gems (she didn't know why - they were really tasty). But she managed to look upbeat as the dragon seemed surprised. To be honest, she didn't mind it at all; she's gotten worse receptions to this. "Yes, I suppose my mother did teach me this one, although I can never eat to many. Still quite a nice party trick, really." To be honest, she really couldn't blame the dragon.

She did take a moment to consider the dragons offer to pay for the gem. That certainly seemed like a nice way to make it seem she wasn't just giving away her gems, so it certainly made her feel more comfortable. "Yes, I suppose you can buy it. How does.... oh, about 10 bits for this gem sound?" giving a hasty appraisal of the gem, she looked at it for a second. It actually seemed pricier then the 10, but that would be enough for her to buy something from around town, so she could save the rest of her gems.

"If I may ask, why are you shopping for gems? Certainly you must have collected at least a small horde around here. The areas outside town seem to at least have a good amount of them hidden about."

sooo... hiya!

Amber smiled. He seemed quite perceptive, or at least Wine&Dine had noticed the lack of customers. "Sure, I don't suppose that could hurt. Just give me a few seconds, then" Sticking out one of her wings, Amber gently brushed the gems from the table into her bag, then secured the bag. Taking a quick trot out, she turned around, waiting for him to start moving along as well. "You seem to mention your family quite a bit, but you've only mentioned your brother. What are the others like?

'ello govna! Welcome to the forums, and may your days be filled with everlasting joy!

North Star was beginning to feel terribly inconvenienced by the darkness. Even on the darker nights, he still had some vision available to him, but between the trees and the cliff, there was very little light down here. He could still hear fine, so he considered that a plus, and he did hear the pegasus reply. "Oh good, she doesn't seem to terribly hurt, or at least she's fine enough to speak" Trying to pinpoint what exact direction the voice came from, he didn't notice several things he should have picked up on, like a quick flickering motion over in some nearby brush.

When the pony called out again, North Star was fairly certain he was facing her direction, placing himself somewhere between the cliff and the pegasus. "I'm over by the cliff that you.. kind of.. tumbled down. Which may have been my fault..." Star was a bit hesitant while speaking, mainly because he felt rather guilty. He was only trying to help, and it technically was his fox that stepped on the twig, that wouldn't have happened if he made himself known closer to the start. Too late for that, he supposed, he needed to remember how to get back to the top of the cliff, but he couldn't think of anywhere that was a good whiles away.

Then he heard the hiss. Hoping it was Volpe for second, he realized that his fox hadn't followed him down the slope. That did not bode well. At all actually. He was blind with his back to cliff, stuck with something that could make a hissing noise. Perhaps it was something as simple as a snake, but you don't live in the Everfree by not being cautious. "Errrm... I rather dislike trying to worry you, but I have no idea what that hissing noise is, and it doesn't sound particularly nice." He hoped the pegasus was well enough to move rather soon.

"Well, it just sort of... happened, really. Apparently it was some sort of big mishap while I was barely a few days old. Besides that, I've been raised by my dear old mother since then. Well, until I decided to leave the cave, obviously. Its not really that much of story, or it would be a bigger one if I remembered it."

Amber frowned as she tried to explain her past. It didn't really seem strange to her, but she didn't know very much about what life would be like had she not been raised by dragons. Still feeling a bit peckish, she pulled out the half eaten gem from her, without considering the fact that a pony eating a gem was like... was like... actually, it wasn't really like anything else. Realizing she was talking to a fellow dragon, she swallowed a bit of her pride and pulled out another one.

"Oh dear, that was inconsiderate of me, wasn't it? Would you like a gem, I have a spare or two to share, especially for such an occasion."

((O.O.C. Sorry for the absence, got a bit caught up with friends ))

"Well, I don't see how its obvi- wait, what!?" Amber was a bit taken aback, mainly because she certainly didn't see the compliment coming, much less know how to react to it. Taking a step back, she smirked and regained her (relative) cool. "I think I see... very smooth. That certainly explains a lot then."

Taking a quick look around, she noticed that not very many other ponies were taking an interest in her stand. Sighing, she wondered if today wasn't her day sales wise. Perhaps she should just wrap up the stand early, at this rate she wouldn't earn a single bit. On the bright side, the conversation was nice.

Amber chuckled as well. Perhaps she was being a tad over dramatic about her gems. She was selling them, so parting with them was ideal if she was given a good price, but that remark about his brother being able to steal them irked her pride a little. Deciding on a retort, she flat out stated "Except I would know they were stolen. There are exactly 23 gems I've put on sale, and if need be I could recount what each one looked like. But you still haven't said what kind of mischief you manage."

Back with the first subject, she was starting to get curious. What could he do that he was hinting at?

Riddle overheard this, and frowned. "True, but a riddle is only fun when you try to solve it, not watch it be solved. No, sorry, that wasn't very fair of me, was it?."

He caught himself at the end of his sentence, and beamed once more. Making sure he was facing the right direction this time, he pointed dramatically once more towards the horizon "Now, good folk, TALLY HO!" He trotted forward a few steps and hooked himself up to the carriage, waiting for the others to gain some ground before following.

Amber nodded and smiled at the dragon's response. Yup, that definitely made sense. Without a map to go by, she wasn't aware the city was so close to the badlands, but that was terrific! Perhaps that even went so far as to explain why she had been lucky with gem finding recently, but that was a stretch. She continued to listen as the dragon asked about her past.

"Well, I suppose yes. I spent a good deal of my childhood being raised by one, so I should certainly hope so!"

She responded in a rather chipper manner. This dragon hadn't been mean or anything like that, so Amber saw no reason to be dishonest. She didn't really consider that this would invite more questions, but she really didn't find her past strange, no matter how many places she went.

North Star continued to follow the pegasus, without making himself known. Really, he felt a bit unfair about the whole thing. It was kind of odd to be following this pony through the Everfree, but he really just wanted to make sure nothing bad happened. Hold up... she seemed to be lost. At least, she wasn't going towards the clearing she had landed in... Perhaps now would be a good time to reveal himself, after all, helping lost ponies was something he had taken up. He was just debating this, when he heard a twig snap right next to him.

Whirling to his left, he saw Volpe looking rather sheepishly at his paw. Beneath it was a small splintered stick, which caught North Star by surprise. Foxes were supposed to be sneaky and light on their feet, weren't they? Giving Volpe a sigh, he turned back towards the pegasus, only to notice she wasn't there. He did here a rolling sound and assuming he was where he thought he was, he reasoned the snap had startled that pony as well. Well, startled her off a cliff...

Without much more of a wait, he dashed down. This particular drop didn't have any paths or shortcuts around for at least a good half a mile, so that left very little options besides falling down himself. Carefully, he walked on to the incline and withing seconds starting sliding down at a relatively unsafe speed. Thank god for wings, he mused as he stretched them out. Sure, he couldn't fly, but they slowed the decent enough for him not to tumble down himself. Once he reached the bottom, he noticed it was to dark for him to see anything. Without eyesight, he was left to call out blindly

"Hello? Are you all right?"

Am I missing something here? Why are you guys associating unicorns with introversion? Do you think being a unicorn lends to that somehow? Neither Fancy Pants nor Trixie are introverts. And I bet it is hard to be an introverted DJ. That seems...type-ist...to me.

Well, the majority of the more studious ponies are unicorns, and being introverted is generally associated with being studious for some reason. It is really typist, but think about it. The only studious pony that really has a mane roll in MLP is Twilight, and she is rather introverted (improving, but I'd argue she still is at least slightly). Given that Twilight is a unicorn, it seems as though people have generalized unicorns as a more intelligence focused race, and thus a more introverted race.

Or something like that.

On the forest floor, things were actually quite peaceful. In fact, aside from a few songbirds, it was almost silent, which suited the Peryton walking through the trees. As he continued, he spoke to the fox trotting by his side "Well Volpe, what do you think? A nice change of pace from the usual threats, isn't it? Perhaps he was exaggerating, after all he lived in the forest, but the peace suited him just fine. His companion certainly seemed to think so as well as it gave a chipper mewl in agreement.

The peace was broken as lighting crackled above the trees, and a few of the birds scattered. The Peryton, known as North Star, found this odd. He knew the Everfree ran itself, and the clouds did often form thunderstorms by itself, he had gotten rather skilled at predicting what the whether would look like. Looking up, he also remarked that the clouds were lined up and went off in sequence. He wasn't quite sure what to make of this until he saw a dark purple pony (it was difficult to see accurately from the distance he was at) flew down from the clouds as they dispersed.

Looking at his fox, North Star whispered "Let's go have a look see, shall we?" Luckily, as all Perytons did, North Star possessed quite the gift for hiding and sneaking around, so he was rather confident he could be able to observe this pony without being noticed. This was the Everfree, and no matter how talented a flier a pony could be, it was still dangerous. It took a few minutes, but eventually he was able to find the pegasus, who seemed to be taking a break of all things.