[Everfree Forest] Crash Landing! [OPEN]

[Pennwick]

((OoC: The location of the clearing is actually not that deep within the forest. A few miles at most. However Ashton doesn't know this. It would be difficult to have seen the balloon go down. You would either have to be quite keen eyed or already close to the edge of the forest.))

"Nnngh." Ashton flopped over onto his stomach. Everything ached. Nothing felt broken though, so that was a small bit of luck. For falling out of a hot air balloon he did pretty well. At least the sudden wind that had brought the balloon down seemed to have calmed. He shook his head and pulled himself to his feet, surveying the area.

The glade was oddly less 'wild' than the surrounding area. Instead of the gnarled trees that were found in the rest of the forest a dense grass grew. A few smaller saplings looked like they were coming up but it would be many, many years before they grew into anything resembling a tree of the Everfree. Oddly enough a behemoth stump sat in the dead center of the clearing. Nose to tail it had to be five or six times his length across. Ashton was a little saddened, it would have been amazing to see such a tree, though judging by the decay it must have been cut down decades if not centuries ago. Hardly anything was left, if it had been any smaller it probably would have rotted away entirely.

The hot air balloon lay on the far side of the clearing. The basket. Despite having capsized him and the cargo moments before 'landing' itself looked to be in decent condition. Dirty yes, damaged no. The envelope however was a bit worse off. Tangled in a particularly spiteful looking tree Ashton was willing to wager that there would be at least one hole that required patching. Not to mention without wings or magic it would be a long task to get the balloon down to repair it. The tree, devoid of leaves, seemed to be leering at him.

He slowly started gather things up and look for the toolkit. Thankfully his bags of gemstones hadn't opened and nothing appeared to be damaged. He dumped them by the stump. As a precaution he slipped into his knife belt*, normally he'd already be wearing it but since he didn't need to carry anything this morning when he left he never put it or his saddlebags.

He started gathering Lola's things as well. Even if they weren't on the best of terms he wasn't just going to dump her luggage in the forest. One of her cases had broken open, the latch damaged. Ashton gathered the things up as best he could and stuffed them back inside. As he did, he glimpsed himself in one of her hand-mirrors. He was quite a mess. Grass stains all over his body and his mane was a mess. He laughed a little. If she were here in the same condition she'd probably be trying to straighten her feathers. Maybe that was a little harsh. She was fussy but still a hard worker. It would be nice to have her around right now.

He turned to the balloon. He had to decide to either set up camp here or try and get the balloon in working condition. Trying to get to Ponyville on foot was out of the question. He had no idea how long it would take and what he would run into. At least here he couldn't see any monsters. He sat down in the grass. He needed to decide quickly though. It was starting to get to be late afternoon.

*I used belt for lack of a better word. Its more just a simple harness that is designed so Ashton can conceal a knife under his saddlebags. Rockwington and the canyon can be pretty rough so its best to be prepared, just in case.

[Pennwick]

'Won't do me any good just sitting here.' Ashton thought to himself. Still it was quite the decision. Things didn't seem so bad right now but he was willing to be that as soon as the sun went down the forest would seem less hospitable. Getting out with the balloon would be best but rushing to get it loose could damage it further and he doubted he could do a good job patching it in the dark. Setting up for the night and working in the morning might be safer.

He settled on the second option. He doubted he could bring down the balloon without tearing a gash in it. Plus if he started a fire maybe Delios, Lola, or somebody else might notice. Then again he had no way of knowing if they had been blown off track or how deep in the forest he was. Regardless he started foraging for materials.

Fortunately Ashton didn't need to stray far to find firewood. As soon as he left the clearing dead branches could be found anywhere. He grabbed what he could and dumped it near the balloon before venturing out again. By the third load it was getting dark. He thought he had more time maybe he had been out longer than he thought. At least it seems he had made the right decision. He cleared a small ring and set up the fire to the best of his ability. Grabbing the matches from the balloon he struck one and set it against the tinder. It gave off a few hopeful sparks and went dead.

An embarrassing number of matches later a piece of wood finally caught alight and he had a small fire going. He sat down and warmed his hooves a little. The sun had set half an hour ago and the only light was coming from the fire and the stars. To his benefit the fire was actually quite bright casting a glow around the clearing. Even it couldn't pierce the forest though. He could swear he felt eyes watching him. He hoped that if anything was out there it didn't eat ponies.

He floated another log on and went over to his thing and grabbed a bag. Opening it he munched on some of the trail mix he had packed as he sat next to the fire. He felt tiered but he needed to stay up. At least for a while longer.

[Inkwell]

Fortunately, Ashton was not alone in the woods. As he struggles to light his fire, a unicorn uneasily trots his way, looking through the woods for something interesting to see, something breathtaking.Inkwell had felt particularly brave that day, and spent it making preparations to venture into the Everfree Forest for something special to draw. At first he didn't really want to tell anypony about his plans, because he knew they'd want to try and stop him, but if something did happen to him, he wanted ponies to know where he was so they could help him. And so the word spread among every pony he'd managed to connect with since he'd arrived, but he wasn't expecting a certain pegasus friend of his to come along.

In a way, he was glad she did. The forest somehow managed to be dark as twilight at all times, even when the sun was directly overhead, blocked out by the voluminous canopy. Were it not for the spell he'd cast to make his horn illuminate the area, they might not have been able to navigate the forest at all. Now that he knew what it was like to venture into its depths, he was glad to have somepony close by to keep him company. Also, this particular pony was a fellow artist, and while they were inside, they'd had plenty of opportunity to talk about their past projects and bond. She wanted to come along to help protect him from all of the beasties lurking within the forest, but she was so small that he would probably end up saving her. Not that he necessarily minded that.

The two of them had spent an hour or two inside the bounds of the forest with nothing to show for it thus far, good or bad. But the winds brought a sign of change to Inkwell; he sniffed the air and turned to Cat Napper. "Do you smell something burning?" He started to gallop toward the burning smell to find out what it was, weaving his way through the trees, when suddenly they ran out, and he found himself in a clearing under the night sky. This was the beautiful sight he'd been looking for!

But it seemed somepony else found it first. Another unicorn sat in the clearing, in front of a fire, next to a balloon basket. Were it not for that last item, Inkwell would have assumed this pony was in the middle of a particularly daring camping trip. But ponies didn't drag balloons through thick forest. "Hey there!" he said. "Are you alright?"

[Pennwick]

Ashton snapped back awake. He had been starting to nod off without noticing. He quickly whipped his head around looking for who had called out. He was rather surprised when he spotted the ponies. He had expected if any help were to arrive it would be from above the canopy. To him the forest seemed impossible to navigate. Maybe he was closer to town than he thought.

"Mostly!" Ashton called back. "But the balloon... Not so much." He inclined his head toward the brown blob snagged on the tree. "Its stuck in the tree and I think there might be a hole somewhere." He squinted. He had been staring into the fire too long. He noticed the wings on the pale pegasi. Maybe they would be willing to help. He waved the over to the fire and put another heavy branch on.

[Cat Napper]

The little filly kept up pace next to Inkwell's side as the two made their way through Everfree. Despite being a good noticeable few inches shorter than her unicorn companion Cat Napper certainly wasn't going to allow him to wander this predator-ridden forest alone. She instisted she'd accompany him as protection against the creatures, though even she doubted how much she'd be able to do. She was quick witted but not too big or strong. It was the brave thought that counted as Cat Napper was as loyal a pony as you could get, possibly equalling that of the spirit of loyalty herself. She'd never been in Everfree before, she'd tagged along partly out of curiosity and partly out of concern for her friend, although she wasn't able to see much in the dim lighting by means of inspiring landscapes. She stuck close to Inkwell and his illumination spell with her goggles over her eyes, looking around at everything curiously but not daring to stray away for exploring. Getting lost here would not be fun in the least!

But the usually relaxed Cat became the slightest bit nervous when she smelled the unmistakable smell of wood smoke. Inkwell noticed it too, and took off with the little pegasus taking flight and zooming through the air above him. As soon as glowing light from a serene night sky became noticable, Cat Napper sped up and swiftly changed direction upon entering the clearing. She flew vertically up with her wings spread to full length on either side of her and looped backwards to land with a small ungraceful stumble beside Inkwell once more. A wave of relief hit the filly when she saw the source of the smoke, a campfire started by a unicorn sitting in the clearing.

Panting but smiling, as that was about as exhilirating a flight as she'd had all day, she checked her saddlebags. Still intact, nothing missing. Cat had packed lightly, only sketching materials this time around and was sure to strap them securely for her flying. She stayed silent as Inkwell called to the unicorn, her wide silver eyes taking in the landscape they'd just stumbled upon. Brilliant! They'd found something to look at. The sky itself was enchanting, a wide void hued the deepest of blues dotted with glinting stars of molten white, yellow, even red. That combined with the fact that they were surrounded by nothing but wilderness made this all the more magical. Snapping back into reality, Cat Napper had the urge to pull out her sketch book and sit in the grass for a night of brain-storming when she noticed the other unicorn's fallen air balloon.

By the looks of it, this night wasn't as beautiful for him as it was for the little duo of artists. The balloon itself was tangled in a knotted tree's splayed limbs. She pulled her goggles off of her face and let them hang around her neck so she wouldn't appear so strange before trotting over to where the poor unicorn stood. " 'Scuse me sir, it looks like you need a pegasus's help. I could try and dislodge your balloon if you'd like?" She asked with her head slightly cocked to the side. She looked up at the tree, the lighting out here was barely better than within the forest itself but she would see that the balloon was caught up pretty good in the branches. "Oof, must've been some landing.." She said half to herself, wincing at the thought of lacking wings to bail out of a crash landing like that. Everfree wasn't a safe place at night, but it looked like this pony was out of luck. As was Cat's motive, she'd do what she could to improve the situation and make things a bit brighter and more positive. Right now it seemed she was the right pony in the right place.

[Inkwell]

Inkwell looked up at the balloon. Like Cat and this other unicorn said, it looked well and truly stuck in those trees. "What happened, if you don't mind me asking?" He gave that other unicorn another looking over. He didn't seem to be all that hurt from the crash; in fact, he seemed downright lucky.

Cat suggested that she could fly up there and help him get disentangled. That sounded like a great idea. He nodded at her. "Maybe I can help you out a little. Think you could carry me up there?" He took another look at Cat's rather petite body. "I guess not. Never mind."

His attention returned to the other unicorn. "Oh, I'm Inkwell, and this is Cat Napper. We were in the forest to look for something to draw, and I think we'll draw this beautiful clearing once we've helped you out." He smiled and took another look at it.

[Pennwick]

"There was a bit of a storm before. Bizarre really, no rain or anything, just wind." He wondered if this was something that happened often in Everfree. He never heard of a storm like this back home. "Anyways, after I lost track of Miss Silverbeak I tried to land the balloon this clearing. I thought I was going to make it but then I fell just before the balloon touched down."

"You haven't seen haven't seen her have you? Griffin, pinkish, carries a parasol? No?" He wasn't too surprised. If she hadn't seen the balloon Lola probably would have gone straight to Ponyville or Canterlot.

He was a little surprised that they offered to help so readily. He hadn't even asked for assistance yet. He had planned on working it into the conversation later. Offering them a ride to Ponyville if they helped. He went over to his bags. "That would be great. I was going to try and pull it down myself in the morning but... he pulled out a dissembled oil lantern and pieced it together. It didn't give off all that much light but maybe it could help. He offered it to the Pegasi "If you can get it on the ground I can take care of any holes while you sketch."

"My name is Ashton by the way. Or just Ash."

[Cat Napper]

Cat took the lantern in her mouth and nodded before taking off with a little running start. Her wings carried her swiftly to the top of the tree where she alighted on a thicker branch. It wobbled slightly at Cat's added weight, causing her to open her wings for balance. She raised the lantern and peered at the crumpled balloon tangled in the knotted branches. The light helped her see a bit more clearly that it was caught in a center branch with a large hole torn in it. She jounced the tree limb once and leaped into flight, hovering with rapidly beating wings next to where the branch tore into the balloon. Carefully, the filly hung the lantern on a protruding limb and grabbed one piece of the torn mass in her mouth. She payed close attention to the direction the limb had entered the deflated balloon and quickly yanked it backwards. It slid slightly for about half an inch.

Frustration furrowed in the brow of the filly, a sign that this new challenge had been accepted. Grabbing the balloon material in her jaw firmly, she began a vicious game of tug-o-war with the tree. "C'mon, c'mon.. justh.." She grumbled in her frenzy as the tree's limb slid out from inside the fabric. With a furious buzzing of her wings, Cat pulled back with all the might the little pegasus could muster. A flash of light falling past her indicated that she knocked the lantern loose. "Oh!" About as quick as possible, Cat released her hold and bolted beneath the lantern. It landed on her belly between her forehooves safely with a soft klink. Cat slid on her back with a cloud of dust kicking up behind her before coming to a halt at the hooves of the two unicorns.

Catching her breath in great gulps, she set the lantern down and flopped on her back, forelegs sprawled around her. "There... I.. I loosened it up for you..." She gasped out between breaths, a few drops of sweat trickling down her dark muzzle blaze. "Nice to meet you Ashton... I hope I... helped out a bit.." She sat up and folded her tired wings behind her and looked up at the tree. She HAD loosened it quite a bit, and it was now possible for her two friends to reach in and pull it down the rest of the way. With a sigh of relief, the pegasus let herself fall backwards on the ground and close her eyes momentarily, still breathing heavily but satisfied that she had done good.

[Inkwell]

Inkwell nodded and listened to Ashton's little story. He mentioned traveling with a Miss Silverbeak, and immediately he wondered if maybe there'd been an epic adventure that he'd just missed, one of Ashton traveling across Equestria. "I haven't seen any griffins around, much less a pink one. I didn't even know griffins came in pink!"

He watched Cat Napper fly up with the lantern Ashton offered her and get to work on disentangling the balloon. At first he was a bit concerned about how the self-described klutz would handle getting that canvas out of the tree without ripping it open, but at first she seemed to be doing rather well with it. She managed to loosen it on her own, even if she didn't do it with the slightest modicum of grace. He looked down at her as she slid down on her back to ground level. "Heh. You alright? Wings okay and everything?"

[Pennwick]

He had to admit he was a little impressed. He had always assumed that Pegasi were much weaker than Griffins. Actually he had been a bit confused on how they could fly with such tiny wings. This one however had made a good effort to remove the balloon on her own. He glanced over her as he snuffed the lamp to conserve oil. She looked fine. Just worn out. "You did well." he offered.

He gripped one of the ropes attached to the canopy in his mouth. "You," he said indicating Inkwell. "giv me a and ere." One or two good pulls could probably do it. The balloon would be a mess but he could probably straighten it out.

[Cat Napper]

"Everything's all good." She panted, flicking her wings to support this. She sat up and shook her coat, a great cloud of dust poofed out of her thin pony fur. She beat her wings free of dirt and trotted over to the two unicorns, sitting on her haunches a few feet away and watching them attempt to pull the balloon free. "Ehm, ya sure I can't do anything more to help?" She called out, feeling a bit guilty for watching them do all the hard work there.

The filly marveled at the night around her with curious eyes and a wide smile. The small clearing was dimly lit by a brilliant vortex of stars overhead, an inspiring sight on it's own. It somehow seemed brighter now that she was away from town. The air was warm and still that evening, small glowing orbs would rise from the tall reeds around her, fireflies were out with their bio-luminescent light bulbs flickering. Cat was wrapped in the serenity and the natural beauty, if the other two had responded she probably wouldn't have heard.

[Inkwell]

Inkwell smiled and nodded to Ashton, levitating the rope into his mouth. He deliberated on whether he wanted to pull it physically or magically, but ultimately he ended up trusting his legs more.

He pulled in unison with Ashton, quickly synchronizing his efforts in order to make strong enough tugs on the entangled fabric. The process was rough going, and a few times the sound of cracking branches and twisting wood made Inkwell wince, but they started making real progress, and got the balloon much lower to the ground.

That was when Inkwell noticed a broken branch threatening to rip a hole in the balloon if they continued pulling it. He spat out his part of the rope. "Hey Cat, see if you can't move that branch away for now!" he said, pointing at it. "Careful not to tear through the balloon!"

[Pennwick]

((OoC:

I'm passing. Ashton doesn't have anything to add. He has a knife but even if you asked he wouldn't let you use it to cut the branch.

I'll probably end up going after CatNapper posts.

However here is a little more information on the clearing. Its about 150 feet (Hooves?) across and almost perfectly circular. Other than the grass and a few flowers not much grows in the clearing. In the middle is a gigantic stump. Its probably about 20 feet across. It was originally planted 1100 years ago, give or take a decade. At that point the forest hadn't reached the area yet. That occurred closer to 300-400 years ago. Due to the shade the immense tree provided (and possibly some magical influence as well) not many other trees grew in the area so this circle stayed clear of the forest. Sometime not too long after its thousandth birthday the tree was cut down (Likely by somepony following an old legend) Since then the stump has slowly began rotting away and the forest has slowly began closing in as well. In another hundred years this clearing will probably just be another patch of forest.

))

[Cat Napper]

Cat fluttered her wings happily following the lights produced by a few fireflies when she heard her name being called. "Wha..huh?" Her head snapped around and she tilted it questioningly. With a dainty spring off of the ground Cat became airborne again. "Not a problem, I gotcha Inky." She nodded and was at the scene in no time, hovering next to the broken branch. "Hmm.." Cat looked at it thoughtfully, trying to come up with the easiest way to move it without damaging the balloon further. "Oh! I got this." The light bulb went off, after puzzling out a simple solution, Cat turned tail towards the branch and struck out with a strong kick aimed at the base of the branch. It cracked and leaned over in the opposite direction, now completely out of the balloon's way. "You're welcome." She smiled with a small chuckle and landed back beneath the tree. Her eyes darted off towards the fireflies again, but she decided to stick around here in case she was needed again. She folded her forehooves with a sigh and rested her chin on them. Boy, would this be a noce place for a nap or what?

[Pennwick]

Ashton picked up the rope again. "'hat should do et." He gave a few more strong tugs pulling it a bit further each time until the whole thing unceremoniously fell to the ground with a thump.

Pulling the balloon flat he hoped there would be enough supplies to fix it. Aside from the large gash there were a number of small holes. He knew how to do a little sewing. Enough to mend but it would definitely take time. He turned to the Unicorn who seemed a little more attentive at the moment. "Okay. I think I can do this. I should be able to stitch it together in a hour or two. Thank you again for your help." he inclined his head to the other pony.

He nosed through the bags until he found the kit again and got to work. Light was a bit of an issue but nothing too much of a problem for him. Not anymore difficult than finding gems with only a lantern to light the caves. Though then he typically didn't need to work with a tiny needle he kept dropping. Progress was being made. It was ugly progress but it should hold. At least it would until it could get proper repairs in Canterlot.

[Inkwell]

Inkwell gave Ashton a polite nod. "You're quite welcome," he replied. "Now then, back to what we came for." He concentrated on unpacking his saddlebags, levitating an easel and a few blank canvases, as well as a sketchbook and pen. A quick glance at Cat raised doubt that she'd be joining him in his endeavors. "Assuming my partner can stay awake long enough to start painting!" He rolled his eyes and started to sketch Ashton and his balloon as he imagined them flying up in the air.

"So Ash, if you don't mind me asking," he said after a few minutes of sketching, "how exactly did your journey go, and why'd you start traveling in the first place? It sounds like you had an exciting trip!"

[Cat Napper]

The filly indeed had begun to nod off slightly, that is until Inkwell's comment reached her ears. Cat sat up on her haunches with a little grumble. "Quiet you, I'm just a bit worn out s'all." She smiled with a look around the clearing again and pulled a sketchbook of smooth watercolor paper and a soft lead pencil out of her saddlebags. "I'm not gonna sleep away this opportunity, no way!" She crossed her hind legs and rested her sketchbook on her knees, a thoughtful look over her face. Holding the pencil between her fetlocks, she began a loose sketch of the surrounding area. With an eraser she rubbed in a few fireflies, and in the center of the clearing, on top of the ancient tree stump that she'd also drawn in, she added a dragon sitting with eyes glowing in the same tone as the fireflies around him. It was plain to anypony who would compare her work to her partner's that she had a much different, looser, more fantasy oriented style. Most of what she drew was pulled directly from her imagination with the area providing inspiration for the mood of the piece. Inkwell and Cat's styles were very different to be sure, but both were just as fantastic as the other. The two ponies were very much alike, but also very different. They could learn a lot from eachother, Cat thought as she etched a smile on the dragon's face.

[Pennwick]

Ashton checked over his work carefully. He had managed to patch all the small holes but some of the stitching looked a little lose. Maybe he should redo some of them. He wouldn't want any to come undone in the air. Falling again would be 'unpleasant'. He wondered how did Monty do it without m'agic. 'Probably practice with a needle. Talons are useful for that sort of thing.'

"Oh?" he dropped his thread. He couldn't work magic and talk at the same time very well. "Its not really all that exciting. I was planning on leaving home and becoming a Journeypony for a while now but unless I wanted to walk through the swamps to Fillydelphia I didn't have many options. I got lucky. Miss Silverbeak and Delios needed something to help carry their things." he gestured to the pile of baggage a short distance from the fire. "They agreed to take the balloon and myself to Canterlot. Really I was just in the right place at the right time asking the right question. Yesterday we went as far as Bareback and today we were planning to get as far as Canterlot since the wind was favorable. You see how that turned out..."

"Once I get this balloon patched up I plan on stopping in Ponyville. Hopefully I can find Miss Silverbeak there. From there its on to Canterlot. Hopefully I can find a job there or in Ponyville. Otherwise I might head to Fillydelphia."

He started hunting around for his dropped needle. If he kept at it he might be able to finish in an hour. Then he could start inflating the balloon, or pass out. Now that he thought about it he had been up since dawn and the morning was only a few hours away. Now that annoying buzz he felt whenever he used magic was keeping him awake and alert but once they were up in the air he hoped he wouldn't fall asleep. He would have to try and keep it together. Considering what he had heard about this forest he'd rather not stay the night even in this clearing.

[Inkwell]

Inkwell smiled and sat back to back with Cat, making a drawing of the clearing centering on Ashton and his busted balloon. Occasionally he turned and peeked over at Cat's shoulder at her artwork. It still impressed him that she was able to so deftly maneuver her pencil and paint with her hooves. He wouldn't be able to do that if he was paid to! It must have taken her years of practice to be able to do that.

He watched Ashton work, then pause to recount his story. It was a little bit more boring than Inky had expected when he asked, but he supposed he couldn't say he was surprised. His imagination got away from him, giving him a mental image of Ashton going on an epic adventure to reach Ponyville - no wait, he was going to Fillydelphia - by balloon. Plus, he was rather curious as to where Ashton's traveling companions ended up.

"So you don't have a concrete meeting place for sure?" he asked Ashton while sketching the folds and shades on the deflated balloon. "That might make it a bit tricky. When my family and I first toured the New Year's Fair when I was young, we got lost and kept missing each other. We had to establish a meeting place if we ever got separated every time we went there after that. But I guess you never thought you'd need one of those, huh?"

[Cat Napper]

Cat finished her sketch quickly and began to add color with a few heavy pencils of hers. Lots of dark blue and black, deep shading and details in the grass, surrounding trees, and the dragon who's scales she colored a deep violet. Experienced with effects, the filly made it appear as though the fireflies and the dragon's eyes where glowing a bright neon yellow and illuminating the otherwise dark scene. Wrapped up deeply in her magical setting, the filly's mind was blocked out from everything surrounding her, including the conversation going on between Inkwell and Ashton. Subconsciously almost, Cat began to hum the song in her mind that she used as an inspiration for the piece. Her depiction of the area was now becoming much more lush and life filled than it actually was, fireflies dotting the scene by the dozens. She added vines to the trees, long whispy tendrils of green ferns and bio luminescent fungi surrounding the dragon on his tree stump, and even a few smaller, unknown creatures flitting through the deep blue dusk sky were added with quick pencil movements. A bit further into her melodious humming, Cat started mumbling a few words along with it. "♫...teach me how to see all thats beautiful... My senses touch your word I never pictured~♫"

"♫Now I give my hope to you, I surrender.. I pray in my heart that this world never ends....♫" And she stopped, picking up the song with humming again.

A little smile curled on her face, her mind was clearly in another world. The very world that she pulled most of her art subjects out of. She rarely drew real subjects, mostly everything she worked on had her own twist in it if not completely made up as her own.

[Pennwick]

"I'm sorry if that seemed a little dull. Maybe once we get in the air I can tell you about the time my sister and I were captured by Diamond Dogs, or the time my Grandfather walked from Roughrider to a small cave near Canterlot without ever coming to the surface."

Ashton kept working on the stitching. Things were coming together. The large gash seemed solid enough. He responded as he went over his work testing the seams.

"Actually there was a pony we were supposed to meet here. I think his name was Mr. Breezy. Monty said he would be able to help us inflate the balloon if we stopped in Ponyville. I was going to try there." one of the patches came loose. He would have to redo it when he was done.

"I'm sure she can handle herself though. She seemed very well prepared, she even had a parasol that shot lightning. Quite impressive. I'm sure she's fine."

He picked up the needle and re-mended the last hole. He packed what was left of the repair kit and started the long process of inflating the balloon. "This'll probably take a while but if you like I could give you a ride to Ponyville. I'd rather not stay in the forest."

[Inkwell]

Already Inkwell began to notice the essential difference between his artistic preferences and Cat Napper's. He essentially managed to paint on autopilot, dividing his attention between talking, looking at his references in real life, and actual drawing. He drew Ashton concentrating on mending his broken balloon, masterfully depicting the unicorn's facial expressions and body language. But when he glanced over at Cat's work, he had to admit he was impressed. She manage to conjure from her mind a fantastical landscape with wondrous creatures, almost as if she was seeing into an ethereal plane, an impression reinforced by her blocking out everything besides the painting. The temptation to wave a hoof in front of her face and see if she noticed was almost overwhelming.

But Ashton snapped him out of it by talking about more exciting stories that he could tell Inkwell, as well as a lightning-shooting parasol and his plans for the balloon. "That's really neat of you to offer!" he says, excited to take a ride in a hot air balloon. "Cat and I would really love to ride on your balloon and not have to go through the forest again! Isn't that right, Cat?"

[Cat Napper]

The filly blended her colors smoothly together with an expertly trained hoof, at first not even noticing when her name was said. "Wai-huh?" She glanced up. "Oh! Yes, I've never been in a balloon before, though I never thought I'd need to!" She opened her wings as if reminding the two that she naturally could fly on her own.

"Hey Ink, would you mind lending me some paint? All I brought was my pencils, I need an off white." She looked down at the smooth, deep sky she'd painted and then gazed up at the one above their heads. Stars! Her picture needed stars, and it would be perfect!

[Pennwick]

A small gust tugged at the balloon momentarily distracting him. "That's okay. I'm not sure how close the wind should blow us to Ponyville but I'm guessing it won't be more than a mile from where we land. I'm still not quite sure where we are."

He left the balloon half inflated and started piling his and Lolas things into the basket. It seemed like a lot for one griffin but perhaps all of it was science-y stuff like she claimed. He had been to the university a few times and what he had seen didn't exactly look portable. Hopefully nothing broke in the crash. One of the cases sounded like it was full of broken glass. Hopefully she could replace whatever it was. Everything else seemed intact.

He finally put his own bags in as well and checked the sky. He couldn't see the sun yet but a warm glow was coming from the east. In a few hours it would probably be morning. The pegasi still seemed to be working on their painting. He sat down next to the balloon finally able to relax. "Whenever you two are ready we can get going."

[buxy]

With a brief, slowly building rustle through the trees to their north, Dellios spilled into the clearing, obviously having crashed out of a low flight pattern through the branches. He got to his feet, shaking his muscles out from head to tail and sorting out the bags he'd dropped, trying to recover any lost dignity from his landing.

"Don't you dare leave me here," he huffed at Ashton. "You will not believe some of the things I've run into. I finally spotted the balloon through the trees as you were inflating it, though." He looked around, catching sight of the two new ponies and awkwardly nodding to each. He was very much unsure of the proper social protocol among ponies. He took a step closer to Ashton and lowered his voice. "I saw Lola take wing shortly after I lost control trying to steady the basket, as long as she's avoided the... beasts in this place she is likely okay. I was hoping she'd already found you. I am glad to see you've landed unharmed."