[Everfree Forest]A Whim of Adventure[Open]

[IceStorm]

It was a calm, somewhat dreary day in Ponyville as the could cover over the sky was preventing most of Celestia's sun from gracing the village leaving it a bit on the cool side. Ice loved the cooler temperatures of the cloudy days and it was even better that it was today that the weather was being lax. All throughout the week she had been planning on going on an adventure in the Everfree Forest, and she even made fliers telling everypony that from today until approximately two weeks from now her store was going to be closed and she would be back afterwards with lots of new stories to tell.

She started to approach the edge of the forest, and she paused for a moment to check her saddle bag. "Compass, check. Map, Check. Food and water, Check, Camping supplies, check. Okay, doesn't look like I'm forgetting anything. Now to just wait here for a few minutes to see if anypony else responds to the fliers and may want to come with me on this adventure."

[ZXC]

It seemed everywhere Silver went, there were fliers for adventures. This one, especially, caught her attention. The adventure in question would be winding through the Everfree Forest. The Everfree Forest.... a place where not even most full grown ponies went. It didn't work like the rest of Equestria, or so the legend went. The weather ponies had no control over the weather in the forest, and it was rumoured that all manners of beasts roamed its expanse. It was, by definition, a very dangerous place. Stories described ponies that went in and never came out, while others still depicted the harrowing narrow escapes by the few who made it out alive. Whether or not these were simply fireside stories meant to scare children into behaving she wasn't sure... but she wasn't about to take that chance.

Silver Heart did not know this pony.... this "Ice Storm" as she was called. In fact, she had never heard of her before this flier was known to her. Yet she could not help but feel like she could help her. She often signed up for trips like this, not to make friends, but to help protect those who were brave enough to venture on the adventure in the first place. She was a protector, and even if she did not know the pony, what kind of pony would she be if she let another walk into a dangerous place all by their lonesome? No, that simply would not do. If no one showed up and Ice Storm went in alone, there was no telling what would happen to her. She wasn't about to let Ponyville lose one of its citizens because she couldn't be bothered to answer the fliers call. She would go, help Ice Storm in what ways she could, and then be on her way. It was all simple in her mind that way.

As Ice Storm's back up, she had come prepared. Silver was but a simple Earth Pony, but she was as sturdy and dependable as they came. Physically, she was rather boyish in appearance; with a square-ish muzzle and sturdy frame, not to mention her black newsboy cap, she was often mistaken as a colt. Not that this bothered her any. In terms of gear, she came just as prepared. Her saddlebags were full of food, water, and various survival equipment. She especially made sure to bring a complete first aid kit, in case something actually did happen. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

At a decent pace, Silver approached the edge of the Everfree Forest. There, at the edge, was a Unicorn she assumed to be Ice Storm; she seemed to fit the bill anyway. Silver wasn't exactly the most... talkative of ponies, nor was she very adept at dealing with social endeavours. Regardless, she was always polite. A true gentlecolt, as some would joke. Coming to a halt in front of Ice Storm, Silver Heart lifted one front hoof and bowed to the Unicorn in greeting.

"I take it you are Ice Storm, the owner of the fliers? My name is Silver Heart, and I wish to accompany you. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Her voice was lower than most fillies, and her face was slightly obscured by the brim of her hat. When she rose from the bow, her deep green eyes could now be seen, staring right at Ice Storm, almost calculatingly.

[HarringtonSleuth]

Harrington Sleuth had passed through Ponyville recently and, while dragging his caravan behind him through the streets of the small town, noticed the fliers advertising a trek into the Everfree Forest. Like everypony else, he, too, had heard the legends of the Everfree Forest. These legends, even when they depicted ghastly horrors, unspeakable monsters and misadventures of ponies who never returned once they entered, enticed the thrill of adventure, and his nagging curiosity got the better of the private investigator. He would venture into territory where not even the bravest of ponies he knew ever dared to think about. He already had several supplies in his caravan, so he figured he could haul that along as they traveled. Anypony else going with him, including this Ice Storm he had never met before, might find it useful for storage if they needed extra room. It wasn't terribly large or spacious--just enough room to haul the necessities, the tools of his trade and his assortment of hats.

I'm not quite sure what sort of detective work I'll be able to do in the Everfree Forest, though...

At last, the self-proclaimed "P.I. Pegasus" approached the entrance to the mythical, dangerous land. On this day in particular, he chose to wear a stereotypical safari explorer's hat as he expected their trek to be a safari where they would get a perilously close look at the wildlife. An entirely different world within the nation of Equestria laid before them, and it seemed they would begin their journey any minute now. They could expect nothing, but possibly dread and fear everything. Harrington trotted up to the unicorn and earth pony already at the entrance to the Everfree Forest, dragging his caravan behind him, and when he stopped, he tipped his hat to them before he set it back on his head.

"Hello. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Harrington Sleuth, and by trade, I am a traveling private eye." He looked over at the unicorn. "I take it you are Ice Storm, who advertised this expedition?" He then turned to the earth pony. "And who might you be?"

[IceStorm]

Ice waited for a few moments and sure enough a few other ponies began to show up. The first one to arrive was a silvery pony that introduced herself as Silver Heart. She seemed to be an adventuring type given the sword and shield on her flank. She was indeed very polite, and spoke with a deep voice presuming that she was Ice Storm. "Yes, that would be correct. My goal is to seek out what is actually in the forest. All I've ever heard about it are rumors and I want to find out if they are true or not. I figure there's not better way to find out than by first hand experience, and I know how to use my Ice defensively as well if we get into a jam," she spoke as another pony arrived.

His coat was a bright red which contrasted with the brown and the black in his mane. He introduced himself as a private eye named Harrington. This made her happy. A private eye was just that, a really good eye. He would be able to see things that other ponies could end up missing. If they happen to come across anything dangerous, he would most likely be the first to spot it. "Yes, I am Ice Storm. It's a pleasure to meet the both of you. We'll wait here for a few more minutes for anypony else that may want to join in this adventure."

[TotalEcplise]

GearShift's search for knowledge and inspiration lead her all around the world, from Aquelia to the Savannah and this time to Ponyville. The salmon colored unicorn strolled throw the streets of Ponyville, wagon in tow, with a look somewhere between a scowl and bitter smirk paint across her muzzle. She wasn't angry, it was just a look that she had the bad habit of holding even after she was done working on her magitek machines. As she made her way down the cobblestone roads a piece of paper smacked her across the face.

She peeled the offending object from her muzzle and stared down at it, as if expecting an apology. Her amber eyes scanned the flier, yanking out every bit of info. GearShift squealed like a little filly when she finished reading, the thought of an adventure through the Everfree Forest filled her with unimaginable joy. She'd heard much about the strange magical properties of the place, but now she would actually get to go research it herself. Following the instructions she headed off towards the forest.

Several ponies were already at the edge of the forest by the time she had arrived, A unicorn, an earth pony, and a pegasus by the looks of it. She trotted up to them, the goggles around her neck swayed with each step.

From the way the ponies were standing, and the manner they introduced themselves GearShift deduced that the light blue unicorn was Ice Storm. She unhitched herself from her mobile work space and exchanged a contents of her saddlebags with those of the carts. She turned around and parted her red and black two tone mane so that her eyes could be seen and looked at three ponies present.

"Hello, I am GearShift, researcher, machinist, inventor, and mage. I saw these fliers and I just couldn't past up chance to do some field observation in the Everfree, oh the idea of the discoveries I could make in here just sends a chill down my spine!"

[RarityDash]

High adventure. For a free-spirited pegasus like Serendipity, there were few things greater. When things got a little scary, a little risky, a little dangerous, that's when things got fun. That's just how she rolled. It kinda went along with the territory for a mare brought up from her foalhood in one of Las Pegasus' premier casino resorts. She was a dealer; gambling was her life. What then was better than putting her life up as the ante and taking a few healthy chances? What better place was there to do just that than the infamous Everfree Forest.

That was the reasoning coursing through the midnight blue-maned mare's head as she headed toward the meeting spot on the flier. She had a habit of leaving the casino on unannounced vacations whenever she got just a little too bored with her life--it didn't matter, her parents owned the resort; her job was entirely secure. Currently she was visiting Ponyville, and so far it was pretty dreadfully dull. It didn't have Canterlot's class, Appleloosa's rough charm, Manehattan's bustle, Stalliongrad's wonder, Breakbeak's edge or anything that really made it stand out. It was just kind of there. Naturally, she had snapped quite quickly at a flier advertising an adventure into the Everfree forest; it seemed just the thing that may save the entire trip for her.

And so the lavender pegasus continued toward her destination, landing in front of a group of ponies. She looked at each of them in turn. White unicorn mare with goggles worn on her neck; an looking androgynous earth pony wearing a cute little cap; a red stallion wearing an explorer's hat; and a fairly unassuming blue unicorn mare. Nothing really stood out to her, but perhaps they'd prove interesting. She hoped so at least. There was nothing worse than boring or unpleasant company.

"Hello hello, high adventure has made it's call and I, Las Pegasus' own Serendipity, glamorous mare extraordinaire, have chosen to arrive on the scene to answer it!" Serendipity started with enthusiasm full force. "I trust you are Ice Storm and company?" she asked, her shrewd eyes pinpointing the blue mare, the one one who could possibly have such an "icy" name. "You may not realize it, but the second your flier found its way between my hooves, you just hit a veritable jackpot! With my luck, talent and limitless charm and good looks, no adventure--no matter how dangerous--could ever hope to fail!"

[IceStorm]

Ice Storm waited at the edge of the forest for anypony else that might be coming along on this adventure and sure enough another couple of ponies showed up. The first was a somewhat Salmon colored pony with a small piece of her left ear missing. She wasn't sure what it could have been from but it definitely meant that this pony had some experience with something or another to have acquired it. She approached and Identified herself as gear shift and she stated that the idea of doing field research in the Everfree Forest and the new discoveries that they could make was sending chills down her spine. Oh, she's and archaeologist! Ice Storm thought to herself.

As soon as she was getting ready to respond to GearShift, another pony began to approach them also from the direction of Ponyville. She introduced herself as Serendipity and that she was from Las Pegasus. That they had struck the jackpot when the flier for the adventure landed in her hooves because no adventure that she had ever been on had failed. Ice nodded as she inclined that she was indeed the pony that created the fliers. "Well then, I shall expect nothing less of this adventure. Then again as long as we all make it back in one piece, that is a successful adventure assuming that the rumors of the Everfree Forest are true. I've never been in there, but we're about to find out. It's a pleasure to meat both you and Gearshift as well as Harrington and Silver. I'm certain that we'll find a lot of amazing things inside the forest. I've also brought Canvas as well so that we can keep track of where we have been and if we find any new places, we can document it! I can't wait to get started!!!" she said happily as she started to head towards the treeline. "Is Everypony ready?"

[HarringtonSleuth]

Harrington watched as two other mares arrived at the entrance to join the group already there. The first one he saw approach them called herself GearShift, and similar to himself, she dragged along a wagon behind her, likely one that held many of her inventions, documents, notes, experiments and magic texts. He looked at the unicorn with a little interest from when she joined their party of what was then four. The second that joined them, Serendipity, also caught his attention when she flew in and bellowed her introduction to the group. He took note of her as well as she beamed confidence and charm. It seemed quite odd to him that he was the only stallion in their party, and they might have been thinking that as well.

But if it might land me with my special somepony, I don't care that I'm the only one! Just as long as they don't break out into a fight, that fact alone shouldn't cause a problem.

He looked at the two mares who joined their expedition.

"Hello. I am Harrington Sleuth, private investigator. And I'm here mostly out of curiosity to see if the old legends of the Everfree Forest are true. And possibly what strange wonders could be inside. There's quite a bit of ground to cover in there. I wouldn't be surprised if we stumbled upon something nopony has seen before."

When Ice Storm asked if they were ready, Harrington nodded as he looked her direction.

[Snowshoe]

Rain Maker was back in Ponyville and area, yet again. Maybe it was because she was finding it hard to keep too far away from her home in Cloudsdale, or she just really loved the area, but something kept bringing the blue pegasus mare back time and time again. And usually, the forest nearby was a good source of adventure...though she had never really had a chance to delve too deep into it. Most times, the adventures fizzled out long before anything happened. However, the flier she saw this time seemed rather serious about the ordeal, and she hoped that this time she'd get to see why residents were so afraid of the area they called...the Everfree Forest.

However, it'd be just like her to be late for it, or barely. She'd taken too long to gather her supplies from her room at the inn and secure her saddlebags, and now she was streaking across the sky, making impressive speed to rival some of the best speed-flyers of Cloudsdale (she could be fast, but was more of a trick-flyer herself) toward the edge of the mysterious forest, hoping she got the right one. There were two that bordered the town and she could never remembered which was which, despite being there quite often.

She figured she was right, given that there was a group of ponies standing around talking. From what she understood, the Everfree wasn't exactly a place to idly gossip nearby. "Waitforme!" she called out, out of breath so that her sentence ended up as practically one word. Speeding across the sky was easy...stopping was not.

Her hooves dug into the ground as she landed but she still skidded quite a ways, thumping against a tree. Not hard, but enough to knock whatever wind was left in her, out. The blue mare shook her darker blue mane out, trying to dislodge a few leaves and twigs from the unruly curls. "Ah, there we are." she said after she finally managed to take a breath. She grinned, standing there looking, well, a tad bit out of sorts. Her hooves were covered in dirt and grass from her slide, and her left side and mane still had some stray twigs stuck everywhere. Add to that some weather-worn canvas bags hanging from her flanks, and she looked like she'd already been through countless adventures just shortly before this one.

"Morning!" she added happily with a grin. Her wings were flared out in excitement (and the left one in a bit of pain), and she seemed enthusiastic, ready to go. "Looks like I got here just in time. This is the expedition into the forest, right?" she asked. "I'm Rain Maker. Author and sorta-adventurer." she added.

[Yep. Another mare xD I'd have brought a stallion along to even things out a bit more but I don't have any that could be up here without a contrived excuse...and the only one that does travel doesn't adventure much.]

[ZXC]

The boyish equine watched silently as more ponies showed up for this little adventure. While she was glad that they would have some more ponypower on their side should something happen, it also worried her; larger numbers meant they were a larger target. Sometimes there was safety in numbers, but sometimes it worked against the group in question. She wasn't really sure which instance it would prove to be during this adventure, but she was positive that they would benefit from the skills that each pony brought to the table. The pony that had arrived just after her, Harrington, politely asked her her name. Silver obliged, equally as polite with a nod of her head.

"Silver Heart. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Harrington Sleuth," she paused before adding, "and others."

She said in her low voice. Blunt and to the point, yet somehow polite all the same, that was Silver for you. As the other ponies arrived, Silver did not let the frown show on her face; it remained it's stoic, calm mask. Some of these ponies seemed superfluous, but she was never one to judge without proof. They deserved to be here just as much as she did, but inwardly she hoped there was more to them than met the eye. Ponies were surprising creatures, and danger had a way of making them stand up to a challenge. She sure hoped she was right about that, especially now.

A pegasus suddenly joined them, tree crash landing and everything. Without a word and without even thinking about it beforehand, Silver silently approached and began to pick the twigs and leaves from the other's wing and coat. This gave her a chance to get a closer look at her left wing, which she seemed to be nursing a tad bit, and see if it was okay.

"Does it hurt?"

She asked the pegasus bluntly, nodding her head to the wing as she dug a troublesome twig from between the ruffled feathers. Silver was no doctor by any means, but she knew basic first aid at the very least. They needed to make sure they were all ready, mentally and physically, before adventuring into the Everfree. This wasn't just some day picnic, and she wanted to make sure all of them made it back in one piece.

[RarityDash]

Serendipity frowned. So far these ponies were a whole lotta boring. Ice Storm stuck to talking about dull procedure. Private investigator was a super cool job, but this Harrington Sleuth stallion had yet to display much personality. This Silver Heart pony was worst of all, speaking tersely and hardly even looking her way! The nerve! Luckily, another pony arrived on the scene, and this one actually knew how to make an interesting impression! Maybe it wasn't entirely positive; for a pegasus, crashing into a tree was just a little pathetic, but it was at the least interesting! It left an impression other than boring, and tha instantly made Seren more curious about this other pegasus mare than the rest.

"A delight," she said, nodding to the other pegasus. "As you missed by fabulous introduction, I'll say it again. The name is Serendipity, beloved croupier at Las Pegasus' own world famous High Stakes Casino Resort, the premier destination for all ponies seeking fortune and fun!"

"So you're an author, you say?" she asked, still looking at the pegasus. "What kind of things do you write?"

[TotalEcplise]

GearShift winced as the new pony literally crashed onto the scene. A pegasus mare by the name of Rain Maker. GearShift's expression instantly became a little half lidded.

Urgh...last time i was in a group like this the adventure devolved into an estrogen fueled pony brawl for ultimate mare dominance. Luckily I managed to stayed out of that insanity. Let's just hope things go well this time.

"Nice to meet you all." She said with a genuine smile.

"Sure i'm ready. I have everything I need for to collect samples and research material." GearShift patted her saddlebags "I also grabbed a few 'just in case' items, you never know what we'll run into in there."

[IceStorm]

Ice watched and started to say look out to the new pegasus that was flying into the group to go adventuring with them, but she couldn't get the words out of her mouth fast enough to prevent the pegasi from hitting the tree. The impact itself looked rather painful, but the other mare seemed to be able to push herself up easily enough and get the debris from her landing out of her mane without issues. She introduced herself as Rain Maker and that she was an author and a semi-adventurer. Serendipity, decided that she would introduce herself once again to the new pegasus with another long comment about Las Pegasus. She began to wonder whether or not this pony was here to adventure or here to advertise.

As far as everypony else went they seemed that they were all ready to head out into the forest. Gear mentioning that she had everything that she needed to collect the samples that she was looking for, Hoofingten giving the nod saying that he was ready and Silver Heart was checking on the Pegasus. "Great. If everything goes like I hope, we'll have a whole new list of things to show the rest of Equestria that we found. Who knows, maybe we'll even discover an old relic from history!!!" she said with excitement as she stood next to the treeline. "Well, we should be setting off now if everypony is ready, and the very fact that we don't know what's going to be in the forest is what's making this exciting!!"

[Snowshoe]

The first pony Rain Maker met of the group was the aptly named Silver Heart, based on the colour of the pony's coat. She hadn't heard the introduction, and, quite honestly, didn't even notice her until she suddenly felt a few bits of debris being tugged from her wing. It made her jump a bit in surprise, but she smiled warmly nonetheless, happy to see somepony who was so altruistic as to just come up and help get her dusted off. "Not really, I've had worse. Thanks for your concern, though." she said sincerely. The pony looked around the group as another spoke up, this one introducing herself rather wordily as Serendipity, a rather good looking mare from Las Pegasus, a place that Rain had to admit she hadn't visited yet, but wanted to. So she was a croupier...whatever that meant. Rain Maker was never one for other languages.

"I write adventure novels. Kinda like Daring Do, except, well, nothing of mine's really properly been published yet. I've actually been adventuring mostly for inspiration, really. Find new things to write about and all that." she said. After a moment, she added, "And what's a croupier, anyways?"

Before Rain Maker could get an answer, the team's leader spoke up, the mare she assumed was named Ice Storm. She herself was ready to go, so she nodded at what Ice said. "Yep! I'm all ready to go. This is going to be great!" she said confidently, fluttering her wings a little to dislodge any stubborn twigs that hadn't been pulled out already. She turned and gave Silver Heart another thankful smile, then turned back to Ice, her wings folding to her side. A careful eye would note her left wing folded a little more gingerly than the other. It wouldn't impair her flying ability, just be sore for a few minutes.

"I hear nopony every ventures in here." she mused casually, a chuckle coming from her lips. "Spooky, isn't it?"

[HarringtonSleuth]

"That certainly would be an exciting thought...but there are still plenty of mysteries within the forest in and of themselves. Those should keep me sufficiently satisfied until we stumble upon some discovery of an ancient relic's proportions. Harrington started into the Everfree forest with the group. An interesting bunch at this point, again, all mares aside from himself. An ice unicorn, an inventor, a casino dealer, a stunt flyer and...a knight? It made for quite the diverse bunch to be venturing into the land where the lines blurred between reality and myth. Harrington dragged his caravan behind, which was stocked with supplies for himself as well as the rest of the group should they need them. There was also space in there in case somepony needed a place to put something.

"So...Ice Storm, was it? What exactly made you interested in starting an expedition into this place?" Not that he minded the adventure, but it piqued his interest as to what would inspire a mare such as her to try to get a group together to trek into the Everfree Forest.

[RarityDash]

Serendipity scoffed at the lead mare's words and shook her head. "Nope, that's where your wrong! The reason this is going to be exciting is because I'm coming along!" she exclaimed proudly, with a small giggle.

Flipping her mane back the Las Pegasus mare turned toward the pegasus in the pack who had caught her attention, this Rain Maker. "A croupier is one who makes her way overseeing a gaming table, usually at a casino," she said with flair. "The less sophisticated might simply call us casino dealers... but I find that term hardly as apt when one does more than merely deal cards, as I do."

Laughing to herself, she then gave a small nod. "Adventure novels you say? Not quite high literature, but that kind of thing can certainly be fun. And at least you're going out there and finding real adventure to inspire you! So many ponies in this world are just far too boring to even consider such a thing," she started with moderate enthusiasm, smiling slightly.

She looked back towards the other. "Oh, and I'm entirely ready to get started, whenever you'd like. A pegasus of my caliber is always ready to face the world!"

[IceStorm]

Ice was ready to get everything started. Serendipity obviously was wanting to be the center of attention as she commented about herself at every second. It was quickly starting to annoy Ice. After everything that she has lived through and put up with from self-centered Aristocrats, she could already see herself coming into conflict with this pony who seemed every bit as obnoxious as every other one that she's come across. Right now though, it was at the very least tolerable. "Alright everypony. Lets go," she said walking into the forest. Obviously if anything happened she would try her best to help anypony as she assumed anypony here would do the same, but it still didn't mean that she took a liking to everypony. Everything would just have to wait and see how it would play out. "Okay, personally, I think we should start from the moon palace, since we know where that's at and work our way out from there. What does everypony else thing?" she asked walking down the path.

[TotalEcplise]

GearShift could see the small amount of annoyance building on Ice Storm's. It probably wasn't even noticeable to most of the ponies in the party, but GearShift was use to dealing with blowhard ponies who thought they were above common folk and even more accustom to the looks the garner from the ponies around them. Serendipity was most obviously calling attention to herself, but it was truly harmless. She wasn't purposely talking over ponies heads to make them feel bad, or putting down the common pony so GearShift, in all honesty could say that she had seen much worse.

"Sounds good to me." GearShift said in response to Ice Storm. "Perfect place to get our barings."