"Excuse me! Attention everypony!" said Mayor Mare into the microphone. She stood on a platform, addressing a very loud, very large group of ponies. No one stopped talking. "May I have your attention, please!" she said again. No response. Spike leapt up onto the platform and shouted into the microphone, "HEY!!! THE MAYOR HAS SOMETHING TO SAY!!!!" Silence reigned. Everypony stared at the Mayor. Spike grinned at her, and went back to where he had been sitting. The mayor took the mike again. "Er, thank you, Spike. Ahem! Now, we have had reports given of strange occurrences in the Everfree forest. I am sure you are all familiar with these, as rumors have been going around for quite some time now that there is some new kind of monster." There was a slight buzz of conversation as the ponies whispered and mumbled amongst themselves. "Now, I cannot confirm or deny these rumors, but we are sending a team of Ponies into the forest to investigate. After all, the safety of you citizens is our top priority. We don't want to lose any more ponies near the border." There was a brief silence, and then somepony shouted, "Is it the elements of harmony? Are they going into the forest to defeat the monster??" The Mayor frowned. "Originally, yes, that was the plan...but...the Princess called them away on another mission across Equestria, somewhere north of Canterlot. So, we put together a group of ponies to investigate, instead." The group burst into frantic whispering once more. Several ponies walked onto the platform: Cloud Kicker, Grey Mane, Firebreeze, Fireheart, Illudo, Winter Warmth, Hunt Scavage, Lucky Clover, and Orda Nurzak. Some were more well-known than others, but everypony had seen each of them around at some point. The ponies in the crowd were silent. Apparently they'd been hoping for the Elements of harmony. Now the general attitude seemed to be, Ah well. Guess we'll settle for these. Mayor Mare smiled at all of them, breaking the awkward silence. "These brave ponies have volunteered to go and check out what's going on in the forest. Let's have a round of applause to send them off!" She smiled encouragingly, both at the band of adventurers and at the crowd. The crowd was not encouraged. There was a smattering of applause, and then the crowd began to break up. Mayor Mare sighed and turned to the volunteers. "I'm sorry. They were all expecting a big, heroic send-off, and now...well, just don't take it personally." She gestured to them with a hoof. "After all, some of those ponies have lost family and friends to those woods in the last week. We still need you, no matter how insulting your send-off was." She glared at the crowd in general, then turned back to the small group. Her eyes had a pleading look about them. "I wish you luck. Please, protect my town!" Spoiler: Your surroundings The everfree forest looms a few hundred meters away, at the end of a small path. There is a mare approaching your group out of the crowd, the rest of which is going back to their daily business.
*Moments ago* Cloud Kicker reported to the stage with the rest of the ponies. He nearly dropped his feathers when he looked out over his new allies and saw that among them was the legendary Firebreeze! Oh wow! It's THE Firebreeze, Second-in-Command of the Extreme Weather Team! Ohmanohmanohmanohman! This is gonna be so awesome! Okay, Kicker! I gotta keep a cool head. All I gotta do is show him my stuff, and I'll be in like...somepony who's in! ----- *Now* Kicker hovered a few feet above the ground, following the rest of the ponies to the forest. He was so busy thinking of creative ways to impress Firebreeze that he didn't even notice that his group has stopped for the mare that was approaching, and he bumped into the pony in front of him. "Whoop. Sorry, dude."
*moments ago* Winter looked around at the group surrounding him, probably the best known was Firebreeze, who he knew indirectly, the rest, he had no clue. I hope that we can do as good as a job as hoped, he thought. *Now* Winter watched as Fireheart approached the strange mare, and then Kicker literally run into her. He sighed, they haven't even entered the forest and there were already weak links showing.
Grey walked along, without a sound, even from walking. Everfree forest was where she spent half her life. Time to see it again... She looked over at her new team. She has seen a few Ponies in her time, but these Ponies seemed different.
Fireheart walked towards the approaching mare. When they met, the mare lunged suddenly forward, throwing her hooves around the crimson pegasus. "I just wanted to thank you," she said, after releasing her. "You didn't deserve that kind of treatment, when you're going into that hole." She paused, composing herself, and then continued. "My special somepony disappeared while he was walking home from picking exotic plants on the fringes of the forest," she said, her eyes shining with tears. "Chances are he's probably dead. But even if he is, I wanted you to know that no matter what the other ponies act like, I am eternally grateful for what you are doing." She reached into her saddlebag and drew something out of it. "This was one of his concoctions. He...he was always mixing things up from the plants that he studied. This one will heal you quickly if you pour it onto an open wound," she said, and then pulled out another one. "This one you can drink. It'll give you lots of energy, like if you're tired, or if you are planning on doing something really hard." She pulled out two more, wiping her eyes with one hoof. "I was kind of...upset when I was putting these in my saddlebag, and I just grabbed from among my stash at random. I don't know what these do, but I'm pretty sure they don't do anything bad. I don't know if you want to take them with you, they might not be all that useful..." She backed away. "Again, thank you for going into the forest. Please, put a stop to these disappearing ponies. Good luck!" She gave Fireheart a sad smile and, waving her hoof, followed the rest of the crowd. Spoiler: New Stuff Fireheart has acquired: 1 healing potion 1 energy potion 2 unknown potions
To grey "hi, I'm fireheart I work in the fire department in the weather factory. I also work as a territorial guard. Just like my father cobraheart. You are."
To mysterious greaver "um, thanks" then thinks to herself "I wonder if any pony in my group knows what these mysterious potions are"
*moments ago* Firebreeze looked at the group he was venturing into the Everfree forest with, 'Well,' He thought, 'We've got a team, and hopefully a good one.' He simply smirked at the unenthusiastic crowd, 'What an amazing send off...' *Now* Fire watched Fireheart go to talk to some mare and Cloud Kicker run into her a few moments later. He sighed, 'This is gonna be a long trip.' Firebreeze thanked the mare for the potions as she walked away
Grey looke at Fireheart. "Greetings... Grey. Dont expect me to talk much because you will be dissapointed. I am only helping to get the town to not hate me anymore..." She shook her head. "I said too much... Ignore me."
*Moments ago* He looks around enthusiastically at the others selected alongside him, flashing them all a friendly smile. He feels like he's seen a few of the others around town, but the only one well known among them is Firebreeze. Hearing the rest of what the mayor has to say, he notices the crowd's nonchalant reaction. Not letting that damper his spirits, he starts to think what an interesting team has been assembled here. *In the now* Noticing the strange mare approach the group, he smiles as she and Fireheart embrace. Wondering if Fireheart knows this mare, he walks to their side as he waits for the group to make their way to the Everfree. He squints as he sees the potions being passed between them, hearing what the first two are and that the last two are unknown. Not really caring what the other two do, he thinks about how useful the potions described sound.
Fireheart was the first to enter everfree forest.clutching her sword she uses as a guard. "guys, let's go"
Hunt walked to Fireheart. "Good idea. Sooner we kill these beasts, sooner we're home. May the hunt begins."
Grey Mane stopped. "If this is dangerous are you sure we want to dive right in?" She began to laugh. Her voice was almost Serpentine as she spoke. "Never just walk into danger... Plan out your moves. Then and only then, is it safe to tread a single, tiny, step... Ponies died in there and you want to just walk in there?" She stopped laughing. "I wish you luck if you do."
Firebreeze looked towards Grey Mane, "Alright, here's the plan, we go in there, and kick some flank."
Hunt took out his rifle, wich he had hanged with a strap on his hips. "Are we going today or not? Anyway, i'm going on this tree to have a look around." Hunt managed to jump on the lowest branch, then climbed to the top. (Roll: 17/20) Hunt saw nothing but trees and bushes, when a shadow moved. He looked by the lens of his rifle, and saw something looking like a wolf, or a fox. He sighed, and went down. "There's nothing out there. I saw a fox, or a wolf, but nothing about the monsters. So now, we can leave."
(Lol, Saul, two things. Not to sound like a control freak, but could you let me do the dice? Thanks! ^^ And second, could you let me determine what your character sees? I kinda had a story in mind, so...yeah. Again, I hate to sound like a control freak or something, but I was kinda planning on doing it this way...) Spoiler: Perception Test for Hunt For a while, I'll post exactly what affected your rolls, so you guys will understand how I'm doing this, but then later I'll keep them hidden. I'll still tell you what you rolled, though. Hunt's perception: 6 Forest is dark: -2 Roll needed: 4 or less Roll: 4 Result: Pass, barely Hunt saw a shape moving around in the darkness. After a few moments, it stopped, and turned. In the dim light of the forest, for a fraction of a second he could see its silhouette. It was vaguely pony-shaped; in fact, it appeared to be a pony with a hooded cloak on. Then it darted deeper into the forest and out of view.
Illudo observed quietly. Out of all the ponies that could have been picked, it had to be him of course. Just as he was beginning to gain the upperhand on Iluminous, his name is pulled to go save the town. Odds are Iluminous had been the one to pull cheap tricks like that, he never openly said it but was smug enough to subtly pour salt into fresh wounds. It's always been that way between those two; a passive aggressive, mostly aggressive, game of wits between two puppet masters. The only problem was that he always seemed to be one move ahead of him, always foiling his grasps for power with such ease that at times it seemed the rivalry were nonexistent, as though the only reason he was kept around was for personal entertainment. The though infuriated him to no end. It festered in the pit of his chest constantly digging at his nerves. He slammed a hood into the ground. "Can we just get a move on already. Sitting around here flashing our esteems around won't solve squat. I have things to do, so let's stop horsing around." he said, full of rage from his thoughts and casting a particularly irritated glare at Firebreeze. He was overconfident. He hated overconfidence.
