Everfree 1by Perception FilterChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 1Everfree 1 Chapter 1 The Outskirts of the Everfree Forest It was a relatively nice day. Nothing too bad had attacked him in the forest and Jarome was having a good time. Jarome was a zebra that tried (most the time without success) to research anything that went on inside of the Everfree. He lived alone in an isolated cabin outside of the aforementioned forest. Jarome didn’t always live alone. A while ago, when he moved here from his barren homelands, he had been hired by a professor from Canterlot University by the name of Rough Spirit to study the forest. Then, almost six months ago, a company by the name of MagiTech Inc. had approached his mentor and told him they were setting a base up deep inside the Everfree to study its mysteries. Without hesitation, he had accepted. The only downside, Jarome mused silently, was that he had to leave his only student behind. So here he was. Jarome had left the forest behind for a few months while he went back to Canterlot to finish his studying. Along the way he had picked up several friends and had failed in his attempts to get a degree, and had instead traveled back to his teacher’s old cottage outside the forest to continue studying it. Opening the door to his house, he immediately trotted over and slumped down onto his couch, groaning. It had been a long day, and he wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and go to sleep. He was about to do just that, before a knocking came at his door. Sighing in contempt and cursing whomever was there, he heaved himself off of the couch and trudged towards the door. The sight that greeted him on the other side was one that was quite odd. There stood a green pegasus with a very strangely colored mane. It was glossy, almost greasy and was dark blue with a few stripes of burgundy in it. Even more strange was his tail, which held the same colors, only in reverse, with the burgundy being the primary color. His coat was green, and his cutie mark was concealed by one of his wings. The pegasus standing at the door coughed into his hoof, shaking Jarome out of his trance. “Something you need?” he asked, trying not to sound rude. “Ah, yes... I’m looking for a, uh.... ” The green pegasus looked at a card he was holding. “Jarome?” “That’s me.” Jarome nodded. “Ah. Well then, Jarome. My name is Perception Filter, and I need somebody to lead an expedition into the Everfree, and I was referred here from every other expert on the forest.” He waved the card a little for emphasis. “And I was hoping that you—” “No,” Jarome interrupted, and slammed the door in the pegasus’ face. “Jarome! We need your help, you’re the only one who can get us through the forest!” the pegasus shouted from the other side of the door. “Find another guide; I’m not doing it,” Jarome replied, already walking back towards his tiny couch. “Jarome! It concerns Everfree 1,”the pegasus yelled, pounding on the door a few times. Jarome froze. Taking a deep breath, he slowly made his way back to the door and reopened it. “What?” he said, not disguising the contempt in his voice. “We lost contact with the base a few months ago,” the pegasus said, “and we need a guide into the forest. Everyone else turned us down.” “Why should I help you?” Jarome spat. “Because Rough Spirit might be in trouble,” the green pegasus replied. Jarome slowly opened the door the rest of the way and glared at him. “Why are you just now setting up the expedition for a search party? You said you lost contact a few months ago.” The pegasus shook his head. “The weather was not permitting, and we simply don’t have the resources to keep a party together in the winter. You know how large the forest is. It’s nearly double the size of Cloudsdale.” “Well what about the princess? Don’t you work for her? Why not get her to lend you some of her royal guards?” The pegasus shook his head once more. “She turned us down. I know you don’t like it Jarome but you’re the only one that can help us.” The zebra tapped his chin a few times before sighing wearily. “I’ll think about it.” “Great!” the pegasus said cheerfully, despite Jarome’s skeptical answer. There was a small moment of awkward silence before Perception Filter spoke up. “The pay’s pretty good.” “I said: I’ll think about it,” Jarome said forcefully. “Well then Jarome, it was good meeting you, and—” The door slammed in his face, rudely interrupting him. “-we’ll be in touch.” He sighed and shook his head, walking off. The ponies he had to put up with... ~~~~~ Canterlot Hospital Two days later... “I don’t care Psyche! This kind of crap is immoral! I’ve told you to stop multiple times, but you don’t listen!” “Do you have any idea what kind of medical advancements I’m making?!” somepony yelled in a thick Stalliongrad accent. “You should be congratulating me for such work! It’s not like they need them anymore!” “No! I don’t want to hear it anymore! You’re FIRED!” Perception Filter was waiting patiently outside the office of the manager of Canterlot hospital, waiting for a chance to talk with him. Only seconds after the loud yelling, a dark green, maneless pony came out seething and muttering foreign curses under his breath, swearing out loud at anyone who came too close. He took a passing glance at Perception Filter, but ignored him and stormed out of the building. “Mr. Filter, we’re ready for you now,” the manager called from his room. He got up and entered the room, to find it in pristine condition, and the manager a model of perfect serenity. The office he was in was vaguely neapolitan. The manager himself was a dark brown unicorn, with a blue mane. “Ah, thank you for coming today Mr. Filter. I was wondering what MagiTech needs from Canterlot’s most prominent hospital.” “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m gonna cut through the crap. I need a doctor for an expedition deep into the Everfree forest.” The manager’s face paled and he started to tap the desk, slowly at first, but increasing in speed. “Why?” he asked, not breaking eye contact with the pegasus. “That’s none of your concern, but know that you will indeed be reimbursed for your loss of staff.” The manager shook his head furiously. “No. No, I won’t do it.” “Sir, please. We need—” “No! Thank you for coming, but we’re very busy right now!” the manager said hurriedly, getting up from his desk and pushing Perception Filter out the door. Before he knew it, he was in the hallway again, wondering what he was going to do now. The hospital was obviously out of the question. He pondered this, walking out of the building, humming tunelessly. As he passed through the sliding glass doors, he casually glanced up and down the street and saw the same dark green pegasus from earlier sitting on a bench, seething. Perception Filter rubbed his chin and smiled. Slowly, he trotted over to the steaming pegasus. “Why hello there!” The other pegasus gave him an odd look, more annoyed than angry. “So...” Perception Filter trailed off, rubbing the back of his head. “What do you want?” “Oh, uhm... I uh... I got turned down at the hospital, and I was wondering if you could help me.” The angry pegasus’ expression changed to one of creepy cheeriness in an instant. “Do you need something sewn on or cut off?” “I, uh...” He backed away a little. “I need a, uh... field medic for an expedition into the Everfree.” “Oh.” The pegasus seemed interested. “Why not?” He shot a glare at the hospital building. “What’s the pay?” “A few thousand bits, this trip is going to take a long time. You will be provided any medical equipment you need. May I ask your name?” “Morons call me Crazy, you can call me Psyche.” “Well, Psyche, nice to meet you. I’m Perception Filter.” He held out a hoof, and Psyche took it and shook gently. “I’ll be in touch with you soon.” Then, he turned around and walked away, making sure the pegasus was out of sight before picking up his pace. Author's Note So, I take it back. Because stuffing all of the character introductions into one chapter seems like too much, I'm going to do five to six chapters with the introductions that are 1-2k words long, then I'm gonna make 'em around 3-4k for the actual story. Chapter 2Everfree 1 Chapter 2 Canterlot City A few hours later... Perception Filter walked the streets of Canterlot, wondering who else he should recruit for this small expedition. They would need somepony to help navigate, some ponies for heavy lifting, and if things turned out bad, somepony for security. With all of these thoughts going through his head, he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going until he bumped into a blue pegasus with a flame-styled mane. “Oh, sorry!” he uttered in surprise, taking a step back. Oddly, the other pegasus didn’t seem to hear him. “Uh, are you okay?” Still, he didn’t respond, and Perception Filter saw what he was looking at. He had a strange smile on his face and was staring at a small mote of fire on his fur, slowly crawling its way up his leg. Strangely, he didn’t seem affected by it. “Hey, buddy,” Perception Filter said. “Your arm’s on fire.” “Huh?” the pegasus said, snapping out of his trance-like state. “Oh, so it is.” He calmly patted down his leg and held it out. His fur wasn’t burned, or even singed. “I’m Pyromancer!” he said cheerily. Perception Filter warily took his hoof and shook. “Perception Filter,” he replied cautiously. “Nice ta meetcha. Well, I gotta get going. Things to burn!” he said cheerily, trotting off. “Hey, wait a minute!” Perception Filter called out, and Pyromancer stopped. “Yeah?” “Would you be interested in making some bits?” Pyromancer turned around and gave him a thoughtful look. “That depends... What’s the job?” “An expedition into the Everfree forest.” “Oh, that sounds fun!” Pyromancer said cheerily, clopping his hooves together excitedly. “So, what’s my job?” “Well, we need some guards, some navigators, and some heavy lifters. You good at any of those?” “Well, I don’t know about heavy lifting, or navigating. But I can guard some stuff! I mean, I love to burn things, so what’s the difference?” “And, uh... How exactly would that work?” Perception Filter asked skeptically. “Well I dunno. I could jury-rig a flamethrower or something.” “And why would that help us?” “Well, I dunno. It’s fire. Fire is all purpose!” “... I don’t even know how to respond to that...” “Then it’s settled!” “What?” Perception Filter asked in shock. “No! Nothing’s settled!” “Yes, yes it is! I go build a flamethrower and you hire me as a guard!” Pyromancer said cheerily. “Right?” “No! Not at all! Why would I need a guard that burns things?!” Perception Filter was thoroughly bewildered now. “Because I could start campfires easily!” “W-what?!” “Exactly!” “I’m not hiring you to start campfires!” “Yes you are!” “No, no I’m not!” Perception Filter couldn’t understand what exactly was wrong this pony, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good. “Fine, be that way!” Pyromancer said, turning his head up. “I just wanted to burn some stuff,” he muttered under his breath. “Why do you love fire so much?” “Because I just do, alright! Why are you prying so much?” he snapped at Perception Filter, grumbling angrily. The pegasus was caught off guard. “W-well, I don’t know! I’m just wondering why I should hire somepony who only likes to burn things. You could burn down the whole forest!” “I know when to be careful!” Pyromancer protested angrily. “B-but why?! Why would I hire you?!” Perception Filter asked, throwing his hooves into the air, before the pyromaniac sighed. “Okay, let me spell this out. Fire is all purpose—” “You already said that,” Perception Filter interrupted, and Pyromancer shot him a dark glare and he shrunk back a little. “Fire can be used for warmth, something that I’m sure will be in short supply in the Everfree, and it can be used for scaring away large predators! What else are you possibly going to deal with in the Everfree?!” “Well...” Perception Filter was skeptical, but the insane pony’s arguments held merit. “I know I’m going to regret this... But, I guess, maybe, I could hire y—” He was interrupted by Pyromancer as he cheered loudly, jumping in the air. He started hopping around in a circle around Perception Filter, chanting some odd word over and over. Quickly, the pegasus jumped up and tackled the insane pony. He didn’t seem any worse for wear when he got up. “Sorry about that,” he chuckled nervously. “I guess I kinda went coo-coo there for a second.” He spun his hoof around the side of his head for effect. “Uh-huh, sure,” Perception Filter said skeptically. “Here, take my card.” He flicked out a card on his hoof, and Pyromancer snatched it away from him. “I’ll be in touch.” Pyromancer started laughing and hopping away. ~~~~~ The Drunken Stallion, Canterlot City A few hours later... Perception Filter sat on a barstool in a seedy bar that he had found not too far from the crazy doctor Psyche. He sighed and took a long gulp of whiskey, finishing off the bottle in his hoof. This was hell. He was recruiting people off the streets? God. He threw a few bits on the bar and another whiskey bottle, this one full, slid down next to him. He took a generous gulp. The sad truth was, nopony sensible wanted anything to do with the Everfree forest. It was large, scary, full of unknown creatures, and had never been fully charted. Wasn’t that the objective of Everfree 1? To make the place seem like less of a black hole, and more like just unexplored territory? After several long seconds of thought on the topic, he came to a conclusion: he wasn’t paid enough for this bullshit. He finished off his whiskey and slammed his head into the oak bar. Somewhere off to his left, he heard somepony shouting, but he didn’t care. Soon, the shouting escalated into the sounds of a barfight, and Perception Filter looked up and saw a large orange earth pony buck another stallion into the wall with a loud crack. He winced and turned his head away. He wasn’t paid enough for this bullshit either. “Hey,” came a pesky voice from his right, and somepony poked him. He grunted, hoping whomever it was would leave him alone. “Hey!” The pony poked him again. Groaning, he lifted his head up and saw the orange stallion standing over him. “What?” Perception Filter asked irritably. “Buy me a drink?” the pony asked. Perception Filter looked behind him to his table and saw several empty beer, whiskey, and vodka bottles littered about. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” he asked the large pony, yawning. “Nah, that stuff was weak. I’m O’tipsey by the way.” “Yeah, fine, whatever...” Perception Filter relented and waved his hoof to the barstool next to him, not bringing his head up from the bar. O’tipsey obliged and plopped down next to him. “Thanks mate.” he said, taking a whiskey bottle and downing it in one go. Somehow, the alcohol still did not seem to affect him. “How are you drinking so much?” the pegasus asked, amazed at the drinking ability of the large pony. “I dunno,” he shrugged in response. “Strong liver I guess?” Perception Filter grunted and plopped his head down on the bar again. “Hey, buddy,” said O’tipsey “I’m not buying you anymore drinks,” Perception Filter groaned in response. “No, that’s not it.” “Then, what?” “Why are you drinking so much if you can’t handle it?” “Because I’m failing at my job,” he said, not lifting his head. “What’s your job?” O’tipsey asked, finishing his drink. Before responding, Perception Filter looked up with bloodshot eyes at the annoying pony. “Why the fuck are you bothering me?” he asked, irritated. “Making conversation?” O’tipsey said, shrugging again. Perception Filter sighed once more. “So, what’s this job of yours then?” “I work for MagiTech Inc.,” he responded. “I’m supposed to be recruiting ponies for an expedition into the Everfree. Only problem is, nopony sensible wants to go.” “Well, I could help you.” O’tipsey said with a smile. Perception Filter raised an eyebrow at him. “You could?” “Hey, buddy,” the bartender interrupted them. “Buy something or get out.” O’tipsey shot him an annoyed look and threw a few bits on the counter. “Two whiskeys.” The bartender smiled and swept the money into a small pouch and pulled out two new whiskey bottles. “Oh no, I’m not drinking anymore.” Perception Filter said, waving his hoof at the incoming liqueur. “They weren’t for you,” O’tipsey said, downing both of the bottles in a few seconds. “Oh, well then... You were saying you could help me?” “Yeah. You need somepony for heavy lifting?” Perception Filter gave him an incredulous look. “You’re actually willing to go into the Everfree?” “Yeah, why not.” The stallion shrugged. “Is the pay good?” “Well, yes but—” “Then I don’t see the problem!” There was silence for a few moments. Perception Filter pushed himself upright, groaning wearily. He felt as if he were going to fall over for a few moments, but managed to keep his balance. “The trip is going to take a few months to get there and back,” he said, looking at the other pony with newfound interest. “Not a problem. As long as you got liqueur. If you don’t got that, I’m not going. “ “I might be able to arrange that. What kind?” “Anything really,” O’tipsey said, shrugging. “Well then. Since you’re so optimistic about this, why don’t you do me a favor?” Perception Filter asked. “What?” “Take me back to my hotel.” “Woah!” O’tipsey said, taking a step back. “I’m not that drunk dude; I think you’ve had too much.” “No, you stupid idiot, I’m too drunk to walk. I’d never make it back on my own. Since you now technically work for me, I’m telling you to help me back to my hotel.” “Well, okay. But you better not try anything!” O’tipsey said, smiling deviously. Perception Filter sighed and pushed himself away from the bar and fell over. With barely enough time to let loose a curse, he hit the ground and groaned. “You okay?” O’tipsey asked, trying not to laugh, as he leaned over the fallen pegasus. “Help me up you fucking idiot.” Perception filter stuck out a hoof, which O’tipsey took and hauled him up. “Alright then, can I ask your name, o’glorious master?” Perception Filter groaned and facepalmed messily. “You’re one little sarcastic shit aren’t you?” “Yes, yes I am. So, that name?” “I’m Perception Filter.” “Okay then, Perception Filter, where is this hotel of yours?” O’tipsey asked, as they left the bar and walked into the city. The sun was setting slowly in the west, setting the sky ablaze with oranges and reds that were distorted by a gray smoggy haze that hung over the city. “It’s about a mile away. Through the park,” he responded, pointing down the street to a cluster of fenced off trees. “Alrighty then, let’s go,” O’tipsey remarked, with Perception Filter leaning on his shoulder heavily. Slowly but surely, they limped down the street to the faraway park. The trip there was rather uneventful, and no words were spoken. A small chill had worked its way into the air, but the two drunken ponies didn’t notice a thing. Before long they reached the park and were shambling through the trees. The leaves overhead blocked the barely shining moon, trapping both of the ponies in near darkness. “Hey, Percy, can you see anything?” O’tipsey asked, trying to peer through the blackness. “Who’s Percy?” Perception Filter asked. “You,” O’tipsey responded, still trying to look for any light. “Maybe we should go back,” Perception Filter suggested. “Now why would we do that? We’ve come this far.”’ “Because I feel like I’m going to vomit,” Perception Filter said, gagging and falling to the ground. “What, you got some sort of aversion to throwing up in the dark?” “No, I just don’t—” Before he could finish his sentence, he heaved and emptied the contents of his stomach onto the grass with O’tipsey patting his back supportingly. “There there, just let it all out,” he said, snickering under his breath. Perception Filter shot him a glare, but couldn’t hold it for long before going back to retching on the ground. After he finally finished, he wiped his muzzle and slowly got to his feet, legs shaking. “Are you gonna be okay?” “Y-yeah... I think so.” “You really shouldn’t be drinking if you can’t hold your liquor,” O’tipsey commented, hauling the sick pegasus to his feet. Perception Filter swayed a little bit and pushed O’tipsey’s leg away from him, complaining that he could stand just fine. “C’mon guy, you can’t stand just fine. Without my help you wouldn’t have made it this far.” “Wait! Shh, shhh.” Both ponies fell silent and there was no noise. “Is there some reason you’re—” O’tipsey was cut off as Perception Filter clamped his mouth shut. The wind howled eerily through the trees. Slowly, he let go of the affronted pony’s mouth. “Sorry,” he apologized. “Thought I heard something.” “Yeah, well, you do that again I’m not working for you.” “Oh shut up. You love me.” “What?! Okay, that’s it!” The two drunken ponies were too busy arguing to hear a small whistling sound as two green-brown spherical objects whizzed towards them. The two objects hit their mark and exploded into a foul smelling mess. Perception Filter whipped his head around, trying to find the source of the rotten cabbage that was now covering him and O’tipsey. He heard laughing coming from somewhere off behind a few bushes and trees. Quickly—as quickly as a drunk pony could—the pegasus rushed to find the culprit. When he pulled back a particularly large bush and saw a white earth pony filly, probably no more than a teenager, with a green mane laughing her flank off. He scrunched up his face. “Excuse me?” he asked, now aware of how much his voice was slurring. The pony stopped rocking back and forth on the ground and slowly picked herself up, wiping tears from her eyes, still laughing gently. “Y-yeah? What is is mister?” she asked. Her voice was high and squeaky. He blushed a little and started to stumble over his words. “W-well, I was in the neighborhood, and I mean, I was at a bar, and I was going home and the uhm...” he was thankfully stopped when he had to bend over to vomit again. “Ewww! Yech!” the white pony said, backing away as he puked all over the freshly mowed grass. Only a few seconds later, O’tipsey came blundering through the bush, shouting, “Percy?! Percy where are you? Celestia, it’s so fucking dark here.” Perception Filter had by now recovered from his little vomiting session and turned up to O’tipsey. “Go away, or I shall taunt you again! She’s MINE!” “What?” the white pony asked again. “Don’t worry m’lady, I shall protect you!” he said, jumping in front of the confused mare, trying to make a threatening face at O’tipsey, but just ended up scrunching his face oddly. “Yeah, you’ve had way too much to drink buddy,” the white pony said again, pushing him out of the way, and he fell to the ground, and started struggling to get back up. The white pony looked at O’tipsey and held out her hoof. “I’m White Lily!” she said cheerfully, and O’tipsey shook it. “I’m O’tipsey. Sorry about Percy there—” “MY NAME’S NOT PERCY!” Perception Filter shouted angrily, still on his back, waving his legs around, failing to get up. “He can’t really handle his alcohol,” he chuckled as he watched his new friend try to get up. “Oh, it’s really no problem!” she said happily, giggling. “Guys really like me when they’re drunk for some reason.” “I can’t imagine why,” Perception Filter mumbled under his breath, and went back to squirming. White Lily giggled again, and turned back to O’tipsey. “So, what are you two doing out here in the dark, spoooooky, park?” “I was taking Percy to his hotel. He’s just contracted me for an expedition into the Everfree.” Perception Filter shot him a dirty look, and managed to flip over on his stomach, and was now trying to straighten his legs. “Ooohh! That sounds fun! Can I come?” White Lily asked, jumping a little. “No!” Perception Filter said, as he managed to finally stand up. “No, no, no!” “Why not?” the white mare whined, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. “There is no room for children on this expedition! None at all.” “Awww, plllleeaasseee?” She stretched out her lower lip and widened her eyes, and started tearing up. This would have torn most any pony up inside, but Perception Filter just happened to be mind-shatteringly drunk. “No! End of discussion!” As if to put a period to his point, he passed out and started snoring on the grass. “So,” O’tipsey said, “It was nice to meet you, but I have to get my boss to his hotel.” “Are you sure I can’t come?” White Lily asked, kicking a nearby rock. “Yeah, sorry, but the boss has the final call... Say, why are you here anyways?” “What, in the park?” O’tipsey nodded. “Oh, I like it here. I really like plants and they like me.” “Well then, that’s that,” O’tipsey said, bending over and hauling Perception Filter onto his back. “See you later, maybe.” White Lily gave a half-hearted “bye”, and trudged off. Author's Note I apologize to those I had to cut out of the story. Please don't hate me. It was just too hard. Chapter 3Everfree 1 Chapter 3 Perception Filter’s Hotel Room, Canterlot City The Morning After... Perception Filter groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, and was struck by a mind-shattering headache. He threw his hooves up in a futile attempt to shield his eyes as Celestia’s newly risen sun struck him head on. Quickly grabbing his comforter, he pulled it over his and and fell to the floor. Groaning in pain, he started crawling over the floor, inch by agonizing inch to the window. Reaching out, not daring to look, he tried to find the string that lowered the blinds. After hours (minutes) of fruitless searching, the pegasus finally managed to grab ahold of it and lower the blinds in place, plunging the hotel room into blissful darkness. Crawling out from under his makeshift blanket covering, Perception Filter started to walk—very unsteadily—to the restroom. With the room so dark, he bumped, smashed, and stumbled into most every piece of furniture the room had; yet he dared not face the sun again. It’s burning touch was too much to bear. Eventually though, he managed to make it to his destination. He flipped on the light switch and was greeted by a... thing. He jumped slightly in shock before he realized it was him. “Heheh,” he chuckled humorously, but groaned and clutched his head again as his headache worsened. “Ugh, what happened last night?” “Hey, why is it so dark in here?” came a familiar voice from his room. Without warning the blinds that he had only just closed flared open, heralding in the blinding white sunlight. “AGHHH!” Perception Filter shouted, and he fell over as the light struck him like a giant hammer. “Are you okay in there?” the voice sounded again. He looked up to see the filly with the green mane and white coat from last night rush in to help him. He could vaguely recall that her name was White Lily. Then a horrible thought occurred to him. “OH CELESTIA! WHAT DID I DO LAST NIGHT?!” he yelled, then curled up into a ball as his own voice pounded in his ear. “Do?” White Lily asked confusedly. “What do you mean....” she trailed off as she caught Perception Filter’s meaning. “OH NO! That’s sick!” She jumped back away from him, and backed into the room. “What is wrong with you?!” she screamed at him. “Ohh, Celestia, my head.” “Why would you even think that?!” White Lily was completely revolted, and she was still screaming at the pegasus writhing in pain on the ground. “Please stop,” he groaned. “My head, ohh.” “Ugh! I’m leaving!” White Lily yelled one last time before she sped out the door. At last, blessed silence. Sweet, sweet silence. Perception Filter nearly laughed when the noise was finally over, but he caught himself. Kicking the door closed, he crawled into the shower and turned on the water to ice cold. The water hit him like he was jumping into a frozen river, and he howled in pain as his head screamed at him. Eventually, the pain subsided and he climbed out and toweled himself off— his headache still there, but less intense than before. He exited his room, making sure to close the blinds in case he came home drunk again, and headed off. His next destination was the Royal Palace. He was hoping to talk Celestia into letting him borrow a few guards for security. She had already refused his request, but he had to try. He was not going to go scavenging on the street again. He trotted past few ponies in the street, for it was still relatively early, but he nodded politely to whomever he saw. Soon, he reached the Palace. Celestia had really let the place go in the past few years. The once perfect and gleaming white stone was now cracked and smeared with a layer of dirt. However, the guards remained as resolute as ever, and as he approached the giant door, the guards crossed their spears and stopped him dead in his tracks. “State your name and business,” they said at the same time, in a way that made Perception Filter shiver. He never got why they talked like that. “I’m Perception Filter. I come from Magitech Inc. and I need to speak to the princess about business matters.” The guard nodded to the other one, and they withdrew their spears and opened the door. “Move along.” Perception Filter nodded gratefully and trotted forward as quickly as possible. The interior of the castle was in the same state of disrepair that the outside was. The once graceful and bright rugs that adorned the floor were filthy and stained. He kept his gaze forward and tried to ignore the guards with spears that lined the halls to the throne room. He knew that if he twitched the wrong way, he would be attacked without hesitation. He reached the throne room and heard shouting within. The guards posted at the door held out their hooves. “You must wait until Celestia is finished with her current audience.” Perception Filter nodded wordlessly and held his ground. The shouting inside the throne room was emanating from the ‘princess’ as she explained in great detail what a pompous fool some pony named “Blueblood” was. After a few minutes, the doors slammed open and a white pony with a golden mane ran out crying. He looked up to see Celestia upon her throne with a devious smile. “Come in,” she said, keeping her evil grin the whole time. Perception Filter smiled nervously and gulped. He took a few steps in and the doors slammed shut behind him. He jumped in the air and let out a rather feminine squeal before he composed himself. “Hello Perception Filter,” Celestia said, still grinning. “H-hello your majesty,” he replied, bowing before the princess. “Rise. So, what is it that Magitech needs this time?” she asked with a sigh, leaning on her hoof. “W-well we are s-still looking for some help with that Everfree expedit—” “Did your superiors not hear me last time I spoke to them?” Celestia interrupted, with an angry tone. “W-well yes b-but—” “Then you know that I will never have anything to do with that damned forest ever, again.” “Y-yes your majesty,” he said with another bow, hoping to keep her calm. She sighed and leaned on the edge of her chair. “If you are so adamant in this, talk to my security advisor Pen Knife. It is his choice whether to help you or not. Either way, I do not want to hear anything about this ever again. Am I clear?” Her tone was very hostile, and Perception Filter quickly promised he would never mention it again. “Good, now if that is all, I would ask that you leave me. I have more of these pesky nobles to... converse with.” “Yes your majesty,” he bowed one last time and scooted out of the room and took a sigh of relief. He asked directions to where Pen Knife was from the nearest guard and had to traverse the lengthy hallways once again before he came to another door, this once much less grand than the one to the throne room. He knocked on the door and it opened at his touch. He peeked in to see what he assumed were guard barracks. They were mostly empty, save for four ponies sitting at a table playing cards. He walked in warily, and was about to speak up when a brown pony held his hoof up, and pushed a large amount of poker chips into the center of the table. Perception Filter casually glanced at his hand and saw he only had a pair of tens. One of the other three ponies folded, and the other two matched his bet. He then pushed the rest of his chips in, and one pony folded. It was just him and the other guard now. The other guard matched his bet, and laid down his cards. He had a pair of nines. The brown pony smiled smugly and laid his hand down. All the other ponies groaned as he raked in the cash. “Alright men, breaks over. Back to your posts,” he said, and the others saluted and trotted off. “So, Perception Filter,” said the brown pony—whom, the pegasus noticed, had a broken-off horn—as he pushed the poker chips into a bag. “You know who I am?” Perception Filter asked, surprised. “Celestia informed me you were coming. She didn’t tell me what you needed though.” “Well,” he began. “I need some guards for an expedition into the Everfree forest. We lost contact with our base and are mounting an expedition to see what went wrong.” “How long ago did you lose contact?” “A few months ago, but weather conditions were preventing any mounting of searches.” “Well, first off, you should know that I am Pen Knife, if you haven’t guessed already. You should also know that the men at your base are probably dead.” “Yes, we assumed as much. However, we still have to know what happened.” “I guess I can see that. Alright, I’ll help ya.” “Really?” asked Perception Filter in shock. “Yes, I’m tired of working for Celestia, and I’m sure a few of my men are too.” Pen Knife was now moving around the room, straightening things up. “Alright then... Here, take my card, you’ll need it to get in touch.” He procured another of his business cards and handed it to Pen Knife. “Also, one last thing before I leave.” “Yes?” “Do you know any Cartographers or pleasent journalists? “Why?” “Well,” he said, “My superiors want to map as much of the forest as possible, and someone to document the journey. They’re always looking to get the most of their money.” “I know a journalist who isn’t too much of a pain, but she’s really sad all the time. Her name is Drifting Facade.” “Do you know where she works?” Pen Knife gave him the address and trotted outside, giving him a half-hearted wave goodbye. ~~~~~ FoB Post Offices, Canterlot City A Few Minutes Later... Perception Filter looked at the building before him. It was brown and black and looked like it was infested with every kind of parasite ever. Still, this was the address that Pen Knife had given him, so... He walked up to the front door and entered warily, looking everywhere in case something should jump out and try to eat him. With the state that the building was in, he wouldn’t—couldn’t— put it behind him. He came up to a rotting desk and saw a mare sitting behind it, singing something under her breath. She had a gray coat, and messy blue hair. Perception Filter walked up to the desk and tapped it lightly, for fear that it might fall apart. The mare looked up, and took a small glance at him. “Yes, something you need?” she asked, not unkindly. “Are you Drifting Facade?” “That’s me,” she said, getting up onto her hooves. She held one out and Perception Filter took it, shaking it softly. “So, what do you want?” “Well, I was told that you were a journalist... And I was hoping that...” he trailed off a little. “Yes?” “Could you help document an expedition into the Everfree forest?” he asked, and Drifting Facade shrugged. “I don’t see why not. What’s the expedition for, and how much are you paying?” “Well.” He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “We can guarantee at least 500 bits up front, and when you get back, another 500 bits. We’re mounting this expedition to reestablish contact with a base we lost over the winter. We figure that most or all of the workers are already dead, but we have valuable tech in that base.” “That sounds reasonable I guess. When’s all this going down?” “In a few days, if things permit.” “What things?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “Well,” he began, “I’m still looking for one more pony to take with us. We need a cartographer.” “Why would you need a cartographer? Don’t you already know where the base is?” “Well yes, but my bosses are always looking for ways to maximize profit and minimize money loss. To do that, they intend to map out as much of the forest as they can.” “Well, there’s one pony, but she’s kinda....” “Off?” Perception Filter suggested. “No, she’s kind of a bitch.” “Oh...” he paused, at a small loss for words. “So, ah, what’s her name?” “Shadow Clock. She’s brown, with a brunette mane, and some of the weirdest eyes you’ve ever seen. You can’t miss her. You can usually find her down by the Drunken Stallion. You know where it is?” “Yeah, I might’ve been there once or twice.” His memory flashed back to the previous night, when he was getting smashed on whiskey and every kind of conceivable alcohol. He shook his head vigorously, and got rid of the memories. “Thanks for the help, I’ll be in touch.” They shook hooves, and Perception Filter gave her his card. ~~~~~ The Drunken Stallion, Canterlot City A Few Hours Later... Perception Filter entered the seedy bar, glancing around. Compared to last night, this place was packed full. The tables were packed with stallions playing cards, and there bar was completely jammed with all kinds of intelligent species. There were a few griffons and diamond dogs even. Shrugging mentally, he trotted into the bar, keeping an eye out for Shadow Clock. Despite what Drifting Facade had said, if Shadow Clock was here, she was not standing out at all. Squeezing past some shady figures, who growled at him as he moved by, he approached the bartender and tapped the polished wood to get his attention. The pony looked up and raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m looking for Shadow Clock!” Perception Filter shouted over the harsh din that assaulted his ears. The bartender didn’t respond, but instead jerked his head towards the back. Perception Filter squeezed back between the shady figures again and started to maneuver his way to the back, avoiding the haphazard maze of chairs, tables, and ponies. As he approached the back, a pony that fit the description Drifting Facade gave him became apparent. She was leg-wrestling with a large, green, burly stallion. They both had determined expressions on their faces. Shadow clock licked her lips and grinned, while the stallion had a worried expression on his face. They sat there, legs locked in embrace for several seconds, and time seemed to stop around them. Then, without warning the atmosphere shifted and Shadow Clock slammed the stallion’s leg down on the table with a large crack. The stallion screamed and pulled back his leg. “My leg!” he yelled. “You broke my leg! You bitch!” “Get over it,” Shadow Clock said, taking a shot of whiskey. Her voice was rough, almost like a stallions. Several ponies were lined up, unhappily giving her several bits. The stallion glared at her, and got up. “This isn’t over. I’m going to find you and—” “And what?” asked Shadow Clock, standing up abruptly, knocking her chair over. Everypony froze. The stallion started stuttering as he slowly backed away from Shadow Clock. He turned tail and ran out of the bar, dragging his limp leg on the ground. Shadow Clock smirked, fixed her chair, and sat down as if nothing had happened. The bar went back to normal, with all of its yelling and shouting. Perception Filter approached Shadow Clock warily and gently tapped on the table to get her attention. She grunted, but didn’t look at him. “Whaddya want?” she growled. He cleared his throat nervously, and spoke up, trying his hardest to sound professional.. “Well, I am here as a representative of MagiTech Inc. and I want to—” Shadow Clock interrupted him by shooting up out of her chair and slamming a knife on the table; where she had procured it, Perception Filter had no idea. He did, however, flinch back in shock. “What do you want?” she asked hostilely, and he started stuttering as he tried to back away. “I asked, what do you want?!” Perception Filter kept stuttering without fail, and Shadow Clock pulled the knife out of the table and held it up threateningly. “OH CELESTIA DON’T KILL ME!” he screamed, covering his head with his legs in a futile attempt to shield his face. After a few seconds of him not dying, he tentatively looked up and saw Shadow Clock holding the knife up, glaring at him. “Who are you and what, do, you, want?” she said through gritted teeth. “I-I’m P-P-Perception F-Filter, and I-I’m here to ask for your help, and please don’t kill me!” he pleaded. Shadow Clock lowered the knife slightly, and motioned for him to continue. “I-I’m h-here from MagiTech Inc. and w-we need s-somepony with y-your skills.” He was shaking furiously, and when he realized he wasn’t going to die, he noticed the stares that everypony in the bar was giving him. “Somepony get this guy a drink,” Shadow Clock called. She sat down and sheathed the knife by her leg—where he now saw she had a small leather strap that held the sheath. A few seconds later, a random pony came over and handed him a beer bottle. He looked at it and saw that it was one of the weakest kinds you could buy. “Uhh,” he started, but with the look the stallion gave him, he knew he would be pushing his luck. “Nevermind. T-thanks.” “So, why does MagiTech need me?” she asked, calmly, taking a swig of beer as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Perception Filter forced himself to take a deep breath and calm himself. To a degree, he succeeded, but he was still shaking minutely. “I... We, need a cartographer for our expedition into the Everfree forest. We lost contact with a base, and we need to find out what happened.” Shadow Clock gave a loud, humorless laugh and slammed her drink onto the table noisily. “Nopony has contacted me with a job to do with my actual profession in years!” “W-why?” “I’ve been too busy with other shit. So, how’s they pay?” Perception Filter brightened when the subject turned to money. He had her snared, all he had to do was pull her in. He was in his element. “Well, we’re offering an advance payment of five-hundred bits, with a follow-up of another five-hundred.” Shadow Clock gave him a different look, and raised an eyebrow. “That sure is a lot of money,” she said. “Is it hazard pay?” “Well, mostly. The Everfree is dangerous, and you’ll be gone awhile. In the event of your death, all of your bits will be forwarded to the closest living relative, or whomever you decide to give it to..” “So, what happens if I don’t have any relatives?” she asked, taking another drink. Perception Filter shrugged. “Nothing. There’s nopony to send the money to.” “Alright,” Shadow Clock said, with a smile. “You got yourself a deal.” “Excellent! Now, if you would just—” “Ab-bup-bup! First off, I have one condition,” she said, her smile not faltering. “Which is?” “You don’t tell your bosses who I am. If you do, I’ll kill you, in the dead of night. It’ll look like just one more accident in the forest. Got it?” Perception Filter gulped and shakily held out his hoof, and Shadow Clock shook it. Chapter 4Everfree 1 Chapter 4 MagiTech Headquarters, Canterlot City Two Weeks Later... Several ponies of all shapes and sizes wandered around the lobby, waiting for their host, Perception Filter, to greet them. As they did this, they all— at one point or another— had read every magazine available, sat in every chair, paced around the room a dozen times, and had conversed with one another. One popular topic of conversation was their destination, the mysterious, and largely dangerous, Everfree forest. Each of them had been told bare minimum of what they needed to know, but none had been told the whole story. One pony, named Psyche, was busily investigating everything he could about his surroundings and the ponies that were destined to work with him, just like a stallion evaluating his resources. The first he spoke to was Pyromancer. “Hello there,” he said in a strictly neutral tone as he approached the slightly insane pegasus. “Hi there! I’m Pyromancer!” he chirped, and held out his hoof to shake. “Do you need something lit on fire?” Psyche scratched his chin, contemplating his options. “I need you to burn that chair over there,” he said after a moment's contemplation, pointing across the room. “Oh yeah! I sat in it earlier!” “I want you to burn it.” “Why?” Pyromancer asked, still smiling. “I want to see how your fur resists the fire, it may be useful to know.” “Okay, sure!” Pyromancer trotted away from Psyche, ignoring his small remark, and picked up the chair, before dragging it outside the doors, into the midday sun. He quickly procured a matchbox and struck a flame before dropping it on the chair. As the innocent and poor chair was slowly consumed with flames, Pyromancer picked it up and put it on his head, before entering the building once more. All attention was drawn to him as the burning chair atop his head slowly disintegrated to nothing. “Heya guys!” he said happily, as if nothing had happened. “Watcha’ starin’ at?” “You’re a freak,” Shadow Clock jumped in. She was currently sitting down and reading another magazine. She didn’t even bother to look up. “Aww, that’s mean...” Drifting Facade interjected. “He just has a special talent is all...” Her voice was low, and while she was not shy, her voice took on a meek undertone while talking to Shadow Clock. “You’re a freak too,” she said, licking her hoof and flipping another page in the magazine. Drifting Facade frowned, but didn’t respond, and simply went back to pacing around. Psyche smiled and approached Shadow Clock with new interest. He didn’t say anything when he got to her, and instead started staring at her eyes, never blinking. Shadow Clock looked up from her magazine with an unamused expression on her face, and she raised an eyebrow. “Something you want freak?” “Shhhh,” Psyche said. “Stop blinking.” Confused, Shadow Clock blinked once again, and Psyche let out a small frown. “Stop. Blinking,” he demanded. Shadow Clock narrowed her eyes again, and then blinked once more, just to spite him, and snapped her magazine back into place. “Beat it freak.” “Oh, you shall work quite well...” he murmured, walking away with a sadistic smile still in place. As he walked away, he noted a brown unicorn with a broken horn talking to an onyx-colored unicorn. They seemed to be hiding away from everypony else, and whenever anypony approached them, the skirted away. Psyche was tapping his chin, thinking of a way of approaching the one with the broken horn, when the doors leading down into the facility burst open, revealing a frazzled Perception Filter. “Everypony, quickly! This way!” he shouted, before turning away and bolting down the hall to an unknown destination. There were some grumbles, and some shrugs as the ponies in the lobby hastily wrapped up their conversations, but they all followed. ~~~~~ Before they reached their destination, Perception Filter had to turn around several times to guide the crowd through the winding corridors and down a few flights of stairs. All the while, murmurs were floating away from the group, mostly concerning what had their host in such a rush. Eventually, they reached what seemed like the end of the twisting and turning hallways, and saw Perception Filter sitting by a door, breathing heavily. “P-please... Come... In...” he panted out, before opening the door. Inside, there were a few lights on, but the majority of the room was painted in darkness. They all warily entered, and as their eyes adjusted to the light, they saw a tape recorder with a tape lying next to it. “F-folks...” He stopped for a moment, and breathed in some more. “T-this, is our mission.” “Mission?” Shadow Clock asked. “What the hell is this, some sort of game?” “No, in fact it isn’t,” he replied, matter-of-factly. “This is a very serious matter, and this is your last chance to back out.” “Back out of what?” Pen Knife asked, speaking to someone other than the onyx unicorn that was following him for the first time. “Our deal. Once you hear what’s on this tape, you can’t leave. If you decide to stay, we will hold each and every one of you responsible for backing out of a legal contract. Does anypony want to leave?” There was no sound at first, but slowly, one pony in the back coughed, and the whole crowd parted to see who it was. It was O’Tipsey, who was raising his hoof. “I take it you want to leave, O’Tipsey?” “No, I just wanted to ask a question,” he responded, lowering his hoof. “Shoot.” Perception Filter licked his lips and put on a nervous grin. “Are you still gonna be packing alcohol for me?” Perception Filter smiled, and let out a small relieved sigh. “For a second there, I thought you were gonna quit on me.” He let out a small chuckle, and tried to regain his posture. “Naw man. As long as you’re packing the alcohol and keeping your promise about the bits, I’m still in,” O’Tipsey said with a smile. Perception Filter turned to the rest of the group and tapped the floor twice. “Well, everypony still in?” This time there were no responses. He let out another, less audible, sigh of relief. “Okay, now then. What you are all about to hear, cannot leave this room. Everybody got that?” A general consensus of murmurs and “yes”’s were heard from the small group of ponies before Perception Filter nodded. “Right then,” he said. Without another word, he picked up the loose tape and put it in the tape recorder, and pressed play. There was a small hissing noise as the tape started, and then somepony spoke. It was a filly, that had a rough, gravelly, and harsh voice. “This is the base Everfree 1, contacting MagiTech HQ in Canterlot, somepony please respond,” she said, before someone else picked up on the other end. “This is MagiTech Headquarters. Please identify yourself.” “This is communications officer Sugar Fields, I.D.: Four-hundred A.X. Twelve.” “Please wait a moment while I process your identification,” the operator said. There was silence for a moment, and then they could hear “Sugar Fields” moving around and muttering, “C’mon, c’mon, hurry up.” “Processing complete. How may I help you Sugar Fields?” “Okay, this is a Code-A4 distress call, it is urgent.” “Please state the nature of your distress call,” the operator said tonelessly. “Okay, this is gonna sound ridiculous, but there is something here,” Sugar Fields said in a voice that suggested she was having a hard time even believing her own story. “Please clarify.” “We found something out there, and now it’s in here. Listen, I don’t know the details but....” The call faded out for a few moments, and all that could be heard was static. “What was that ma’am?” the operator asked. “I said that—” Without warning her sentence was cut off by a shrill scream, and the sound of a scuffle on the other end of the call. “Ma’am?” All that could be heard after that was the sound of a sickening *crunch* and what sounded like an explosion before the call went dead. Perception Filter popped the tape out of the recorder and set it aside. “We received this call a few months ago. Weather conditions have not permitted an expedition until this time,” he said, with a frown. “Wait a minute,” Pen Knife interjected. “Let me get one thing straight.” “Yes?” “Your distress system is based upon a call service that requires a running check on I.D. before any complaints can be made?” “Yes, that is correct. It is an efficient system.” “No, no it isn’t!” Pen Knife said incredulously. “What if some, life-threatening condition were to emerge and they couldn’t get help in time?” “They wouldn’t be able to get help in time anyways. Even during the summer, expeditions into the forest are long and we often lose members. It is a completely voluntary position, so anyone signing up knows all the risks that come with being assigned to such a post. Besides, any troubles they would encounter in the forest are ones they are equipped to handle.” “That is no excuse.” “It is not your, nor my call to make. In any case, it is too late to leave,” Perception Filter said with a dark frown. “Are there any other questions?” This time, Jarome was the one to speak up. “Okay, I have a question,” he said. Perception Filter nodded, and he continued. “Why do you need me in all this? You said you’ve led expeditions into the forest before, why me? And why don’t you have a trained crew specifically for this job?” “We need you, put simply, because we lost our last guide on the last trip. He was mauled by a manticore. The reason we don’t have a specifically trained crew for this, is because most that we hire die, or if they don’t, don’t want to go back into the forest.” "It takes more money to train people that it does to find those who already have the skills,” Psyche said. “It’s efficient. I like it.” Perception Filter nodded in agreement, and motioned towards him. “Psyche knows,” he said. Jarome’s face darkened, and the atmosphere in the room seemed to get a little bit heavier on everypony’s brow. There was a brief silence, once again, and then the onyx unicorn that Pen Knife had been talking to spoke up. “So, when’s all this shit goin’ down?” he asked in a casual tone, yet his tone suggested a deep, underlying sadness. “What’s your name?” Perception Filter asked, and Pen Knife cut in. “He’s Blizzard. He’s one of my men, here for security.” “Well then. To answer your question, tomorrow. We already have all our supplies packed, and the caravan ready to roll out. We have provided rooms for all of you. If those are all the questions, I will take you back to the lobby where our receptionist will show you to your rooms.” Nopony spoke. “See you tomorrow. Try to get a good night’s sleep.” ~~~~~ MagiTech Headquarters, Canterlot City The Following Morning... Down in the lobby of the building, there were a few ponies already up and talking, waiting for the others. Among them were Psyche, Drifting Facade, and Pyromancer. While Pyromancer was busy lighting magazines on fire with his lighter, (something that the receptionist was having a very hard time not pulling the alarm to call the guards on) Drifting Facade was trying to hold a conversation with Psyche; much to his dismay. “I don’t really want to work here anymore,” the filly said, her ears drooped low. “And? How exactly does this affect me?” he snapped, irritated at having to converse with somepony for so long. “Well geeze,” she said, backing a step away. “You don’t have to be so rude.” “And you don’t have to keep bothering me with this incessant conversation, yet you keep talking. I consider that rude of you.” “How exactly did you manage to get hired?” Drifting Facade asked. “Mister Filter found me on the street after the hospital manager turned him down. Offered the job, I took it.” “Well, I think it’s a bit disturbing that—” she was cut off as another pony pushed their way through the double doors that led to the apartments in the upper levels of the building. It actually turned out to be Pen Knife and Blizzard, who walked over to Pyromancer, but seemed to reconsider it when they saw what he was doing. So instead they redirected themselves towards Psyche and Drifting Facade. “Good morning Pen Knife,” Drifting Facade said, politely tilting her head. “And a good morning to you too,” he replied. He seemed a bit distant to Drifting Facade, but that was to be expected if yesterday was any indicator. There was a very brief moment of awkward silence, but Psyche broke it by speaking to Blizzard. “So,” he said, “Blizzard was your name, right?” “Yeah, that’s me,” replied the unicorn, still in a dejected and depressing tone. “Good. Tell me, why are you so... sad?” “I don’t like being a unicorn. I used to have wings and a horn, but, I got stuck with the horn.” “Wait, wait, wait,” Drifting Facade interrupted. “You were an alicorn? How come I’ve never heard of you before?” “Oh,” he said with a tone that suggested he might actually care about this topic of conversation, “I wasn’t an alicorn. I was a Changeling. I got stuck in this,” he gestured towards his body, “form when... something, happened.” Everypony in the room, save for Pyromancer and Psyche, froze at the mention of the word “Changeling”. They all turned towards him and stared at him. Drifting Facade gulped and shakily asked a question. “W-what?” “I used to be a Changeling,” Blizzard stated. “Well, I still am, I’m just stuck like this. Before any more questions could be asked, Psyche held up a hoof and interrupted the conversation. “How?” he asked, his eyes boring into Blizzard. “What?” “How did you get stuck like that?” “I don’t really like to talk about it...” he trailed off. Psyche exhaled slowly and took a deep breath. “Why don’t you tell me...” he said in a tone that suggested it would be a bad idea not to. Blizzard took a glance at him, as if evaluating him in a new light. “Why do you want to know?” “Just tell me,” Psyche said impatiently. Blizzard paused for a moment, and then shook his head. “No, I won’t.” Psyche glared at him, and said in an undertone, “You should tell me, now.” There was a very tense, awkward silence as everypony else present waited to see what became of the conversation.. Eventually, Blizzard relented, and bowed his head. “I got hit in the horn with something during the battle of Canterlot as I was battling the royal guard. I disguised myself as one of them to cause confusion, and then one of the guards I was attacking noticed me and launched a piece of brick at my horn. Everything went black after that. When I woke up, I was in the dungeon.” Psyche tapped the ground with his hoof a few times, as if contemplating the new information he had been given, then, “Say, Blizzard. I think I know a way for you to be a Changeling again...” “Really?” he responded, his dejected tone lightening with the promise of a new hope. “Should Miss Clock meet an untimely death, which is more likely than not, I could transplant his horn to you, possibly allowing you to perform the magic needed to change back.” The room fell into another awkward silence, pierced by the sound of Pyromancer flicking his lighter, trying to ignite the magazines in his grasp. “What...” Drifting Facade started, but trailed off. And right at that moment, Shadow Clock walked in the room, and all eyes went to her. “What?” she asked, looking around. “What are you assholes looking at?” Nopony said anything, and Shadow Clock let out a half-chuckle that sounded more like a forced snort. “Fine, don’t talk. It don’t matter to me.” She walked into the room and sat down, and all eyes gradually drifted away from her to Psyche again. Blizzard was the next one to speak. “So... Do you really think you could help me get back to being a Changeling?” he asked, making sure to keep his voice low. “Da,” Psyche said, reminding everyone that he was from Stalliongrad. For the first time since anyone saw him, Blizzard smiled. “Thank you,” he whispered as his eyes teared up. “Thank you so much.” Then, without warning, he rushed forward and (much to Psyche’s dismay) embraced him in a hug. “Ugh, yes,” he said. “Now let go.” Reluctantly, Blizzard pulled away, yet insisted upon standing near Psyche. Pen Knife gave him with an odd look, but stayed silent. Psyche put on a disgusted expression and tried to scoot away from Blizzard, yet he would have none of that; every time Psyche would move, Blizzard scooted up next to his side. The doors opened once again, and revealed Jarome and O’Tipsey trotting out to join everyone else in the lobby. O’Tipsey looked as if he could care less about anything and everything happening around him, so he went to sit down. He procured a flask of whiskey and started drinking, observing the state of the room. Jarome, on the other hand, was a different story. He looked as if he were about to rip off somepony’s head, and if one were to judge by the way he swore profusely at anyone approached him, and his angry hoofsteps, he probably would. Only a few seconds after the two ponies, Perception Filter emerged from the double doors and swung his hoof around and whistled to get everypony’s attention. Once everypony was silent, he spoke. “Well then, welcome to day one of the Everfree expedition. I hope you are all well rested, because we have a long day ahead of us. Remember, before we leave, we’re laying down some ground rules. One: nopony goes anywhere alone. Two: Accidents are going to happen, and people are going to get hurt, maybe even die. In this event, nopony tries to be a hero, and nopony panic. “Lastly, and most importantly, there is something dangerous waiting for us at Everfree 1. We don’t know what it is, but we have taken several precautions against whatever it may be. Any questions before we head out?” Nopony said anything, and Perception Filter nodded. “Alright, let’s head out.”
Chapter 1Everfree 1 Chapter 1 The Outskirts of the Everfree Forest It was a relatively nice day. Nothing too bad had attacked him in the forest and Jarome was having a good time. Jarome was a zebra that tried (most the time without success) to research anything that went on inside of the Everfree. He lived alone in an isolated cabin outside of the aforementioned forest. Jarome didn’t always live alone. A while ago, when he moved here from his barren homelands, he had been hired by a professor from Canterlot University by the name of Rough Spirit to study the forest. Then, almost six months ago, a company by the name of MagiTech Inc. had approached his mentor and told him they were setting a base up deep inside the Everfree to study its mysteries. Without hesitation, he had accepted. The only downside, Jarome mused silently, was that he had to leave his only student behind. So here he was. Jarome had left the forest behind for a few months while he went back to Canterlot to finish his studying. Along the way he had picked up several friends and had failed in his attempts to get a degree, and had instead traveled back to his teacher’s old cottage outside the forest to continue studying it. Opening the door to his house, he immediately trotted over and slumped down onto his couch, groaning. It had been a long day, and he wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and go to sleep. He was about to do just that, before a knocking came at his door. Sighing in contempt and cursing whomever was there, he heaved himself off of the couch and trudged towards the door. The sight that greeted him on the other side was one that was quite odd. There stood a green pegasus with a very strangely colored mane. It was glossy, almost greasy and was dark blue with a few stripes of burgundy in it. Even more strange was his tail, which held the same colors, only in reverse, with the burgundy being the primary color. His coat was green, and his cutie mark was concealed by one of his wings. The pegasus standing at the door coughed into his hoof, shaking Jarome out of his trance. “Something you need?” he asked, trying not to sound rude. “Ah, yes... I’m looking for a, uh.... ” The green pegasus looked at a card he was holding. “Jarome?” “That’s me.” Jarome nodded. “Ah. Well then, Jarome. My name is Perception Filter, and I need somebody to lead an expedition into the Everfree, and I was referred here from every other expert on the forest.” He waved the card a little for emphasis. “And I was hoping that you—” “No,” Jarome interrupted, and slammed the door in the pegasus’ face. “Jarome! We need your help, you’re the only one who can get us through the forest!” the pegasus shouted from the other side of the door. “Find another guide; I’m not doing it,” Jarome replied, already walking back towards his tiny couch. “Jarome! It concerns Everfree 1,”the pegasus yelled, pounding on the door a few times. Jarome froze. Taking a deep breath, he slowly made his way back to the door and reopened it. “What?” he said, not disguising the contempt in his voice. “We lost contact with the base a few months ago,” the pegasus said, “and we need a guide into the forest. Everyone else turned us down.” “Why should I help you?” Jarome spat. “Because Rough Spirit might be in trouble,” the green pegasus replied. Jarome slowly opened the door the rest of the way and glared at him. “Why are you just now setting up the expedition for a search party? You said you lost contact a few months ago.” The pegasus shook his head. “The weather was not permitting, and we simply don’t have the resources to keep a party together in the winter. You know how large the forest is. It’s nearly double the size of Cloudsdale.” “Well what about the princess? Don’t you work for her? Why not get her to lend you some of her royal guards?” The pegasus shook his head once more. “She turned us down. I know you don’t like it Jarome but you’re the only one that can help us.” The zebra tapped his chin a few times before sighing wearily. “I’ll think about it.” “Great!” the pegasus said cheerfully, despite Jarome’s skeptical answer. There was a small moment of awkward silence before Perception Filter spoke up. “The pay’s pretty good.” “I said: I’ll think about it,” Jarome said forcefully. “Well then Jarome, it was good meeting you, and—” The door slammed in his face, rudely interrupting him. “-we’ll be in touch.” He sighed and shook his head, walking off. The ponies he had to put up with... ~~~~~ Canterlot Hospital Two days later... “I don’t care Psyche! This kind of crap is immoral! I’ve told you to stop multiple times, but you don’t listen!” “Do you have any idea what kind of medical advancements I’m making?!” somepony yelled in a thick Stalliongrad accent. “You should be congratulating me for such work! It’s not like they need them anymore!” “No! I don’t want to hear it anymore! You’re FIRED!” Perception Filter was waiting patiently outside the office of the manager of Canterlot hospital, waiting for a chance to talk with him. Only seconds after the loud yelling, a dark green, maneless pony came out seething and muttering foreign curses under his breath, swearing out loud at anyone who came too close. He took a passing glance at Perception Filter, but ignored him and stormed out of the building. “Mr. Filter, we’re ready for you now,” the manager called from his room. He got up and entered the room, to find it in pristine condition, and the manager a model of perfect serenity. The office he was in was vaguely neapolitan. The manager himself was a dark brown unicorn, with a blue mane. “Ah, thank you for coming today Mr. Filter. I was wondering what MagiTech needs from Canterlot’s most prominent hospital.” “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m gonna cut through the crap. I need a doctor for an expedition deep into the Everfree forest.” The manager’s face paled and he started to tap the desk, slowly at first, but increasing in speed. “Why?” he asked, not breaking eye contact with the pegasus. “That’s none of your concern, but know that you will indeed be reimbursed for your loss of staff.” The manager shook his head furiously. “No. No, I won’t do it.” “Sir, please. We need—” “No! Thank you for coming, but we’re very busy right now!” the manager said hurriedly, getting up from his desk and pushing Perception Filter out the door. Before he knew it, he was in the hallway again, wondering what he was going to do now. The hospital was obviously out of the question. He pondered this, walking out of the building, humming tunelessly. As he passed through the sliding glass doors, he casually glanced up and down the street and saw the same dark green pegasus from earlier sitting on a bench, seething. Perception Filter rubbed his chin and smiled. Slowly, he trotted over to the steaming pegasus. “Why hello there!” The other pegasus gave him an odd look, more annoyed than angry. “So...” Perception Filter trailed off, rubbing the back of his head. “What do you want?” “Oh, uhm... I uh... I got turned down at the hospital, and I was wondering if you could help me.” The angry pegasus’ expression changed to one of creepy cheeriness in an instant. “Do you need something sewn on or cut off?” “I, uh...” He backed away a little. “I need a, uh... field medic for an expedition into the Everfree.” “Oh.” The pegasus seemed interested. “Why not?” He shot a glare at the hospital building. “What’s the pay?” “A few thousand bits, this trip is going to take a long time. You will be provided any medical equipment you need. May I ask your name?” “Morons call me Crazy, you can call me Psyche.” “Well, Psyche, nice to meet you. I’m Perception Filter.” He held out a hoof, and Psyche took it and shook gently. “I’ll be in touch with you soon.” Then, he turned around and walked away, making sure the pegasus was out of sight before picking up his pace. Author's Note So, I take it back. Because stuffing all of the character introductions into one chapter seems like too much, I'm going to do five to six chapters with the introductions that are 1-2k words long, then I'm gonna make 'em around 3-4k for the actual story.
Chapter 2Everfree 1 Chapter 2 Canterlot City A few hours later... Perception Filter walked the streets of Canterlot, wondering who else he should recruit for this small expedition. They would need somepony to help navigate, some ponies for heavy lifting, and if things turned out bad, somepony for security. With all of these thoughts going through his head, he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going until he bumped into a blue pegasus with a flame-styled mane. “Oh, sorry!” he uttered in surprise, taking a step back. Oddly, the other pegasus didn’t seem to hear him. “Uh, are you okay?” Still, he didn’t respond, and Perception Filter saw what he was looking at. He had a strange smile on his face and was staring at a small mote of fire on his fur, slowly crawling its way up his leg. Strangely, he didn’t seem affected by it. “Hey, buddy,” Perception Filter said. “Your arm’s on fire.” “Huh?” the pegasus said, snapping out of his trance-like state. “Oh, so it is.” He calmly patted down his leg and held it out. His fur wasn’t burned, or even singed. “I’m Pyromancer!” he said cheerily. Perception Filter warily took his hoof and shook. “Perception Filter,” he replied cautiously. “Nice ta meetcha. Well, I gotta get going. Things to burn!” he said cheerily, trotting off. “Hey, wait a minute!” Perception Filter called out, and Pyromancer stopped. “Yeah?” “Would you be interested in making some bits?” Pyromancer turned around and gave him a thoughtful look. “That depends... What’s the job?” “An expedition into the Everfree forest.” “Oh, that sounds fun!” Pyromancer said cheerily, clopping his hooves together excitedly. “So, what’s my job?” “Well, we need some guards, some navigators, and some heavy lifters. You good at any of those?” “Well, I don’t know about heavy lifting, or navigating. But I can guard some stuff! I mean, I love to burn things, so what’s the difference?” “And, uh... How exactly would that work?” Perception Filter asked skeptically. “Well I dunno. I could jury-rig a flamethrower or something.” “And why would that help us?” “Well, I dunno. It’s fire. Fire is all purpose!” “... I don’t even know how to respond to that...” “Then it’s settled!” “What?” Perception Filter asked in shock. “No! Nothing’s settled!” “Yes, yes it is! I go build a flamethrower and you hire me as a guard!” Pyromancer said cheerily. “Right?” “No! Not at all! Why would I need a guard that burns things?!” Perception Filter was thoroughly bewildered now. “Because I could start campfires easily!” “W-what?!” “Exactly!” “I’m not hiring you to start campfires!” “Yes you are!” “No, no I’m not!” Perception Filter couldn’t understand what exactly was wrong this pony, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good. “Fine, be that way!” Pyromancer said, turning his head up. “I just wanted to burn some stuff,” he muttered under his breath. “Why do you love fire so much?” “Because I just do, alright! Why are you prying so much?” he snapped at Perception Filter, grumbling angrily. The pegasus was caught off guard. “W-well, I don’t know! I’m just wondering why I should hire somepony who only likes to burn things. You could burn down the whole forest!” “I know when to be careful!” Pyromancer protested angrily. “B-but why?! Why would I hire you?!” Perception Filter asked, throwing his hooves into the air, before the pyromaniac sighed. “Okay, let me spell this out. Fire is all purpose—” “You already said that,” Perception Filter interrupted, and Pyromancer shot him a dark glare and he shrunk back a little. “Fire can be used for warmth, something that I’m sure will be in short supply in the Everfree, and it can be used for scaring away large predators! What else are you possibly going to deal with in the Everfree?!” “Well...” Perception Filter was skeptical, but the insane pony’s arguments held merit. “I know I’m going to regret this... But, I guess, maybe, I could hire y—” He was interrupted by Pyromancer as he cheered loudly, jumping in the air. He started hopping around in a circle around Perception Filter, chanting some odd word over and over. Quickly, the pegasus jumped up and tackled the insane pony. He didn’t seem any worse for wear when he got up. “Sorry about that,” he chuckled nervously. “I guess I kinda went coo-coo there for a second.” He spun his hoof around the side of his head for effect. “Uh-huh, sure,” Perception Filter said skeptically. “Here, take my card.” He flicked out a card on his hoof, and Pyromancer snatched it away from him. “I’ll be in touch.” Pyromancer started laughing and hopping away. ~~~~~ The Drunken Stallion, Canterlot City A few hours later... Perception Filter sat on a barstool in a seedy bar that he had found not too far from the crazy doctor Psyche. He sighed and took a long gulp of whiskey, finishing off the bottle in his hoof. This was hell. He was recruiting people off the streets? God. He threw a few bits on the bar and another whiskey bottle, this one full, slid down next to him. He took a generous gulp. The sad truth was, nopony sensible wanted anything to do with the Everfree forest. It was large, scary, full of unknown creatures, and had never been fully charted. Wasn’t that the objective of Everfree 1? To make the place seem like less of a black hole, and more like just unexplored territory? After several long seconds of thought on the topic, he came to a conclusion: he wasn’t paid enough for this bullshit. He finished off his whiskey and slammed his head into the oak bar. Somewhere off to his left, he heard somepony shouting, but he didn’t care. Soon, the shouting escalated into the sounds of a barfight, and Perception Filter looked up and saw a large orange earth pony buck another stallion into the wall with a loud crack. He winced and turned his head away. He wasn’t paid enough for this bullshit either. “Hey,” came a pesky voice from his right, and somepony poked him. He grunted, hoping whomever it was would leave him alone. “Hey!” The pony poked him again. Groaning, he lifted his head up and saw the orange stallion standing over him. “What?” Perception Filter asked irritably. “Buy me a drink?” the pony asked. Perception Filter looked behind him to his table and saw several empty beer, whiskey, and vodka bottles littered about. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” he asked the large pony, yawning. “Nah, that stuff was weak. I’m O’tipsey by the way.” “Yeah, fine, whatever...” Perception Filter relented and waved his hoof to the barstool next to him, not bringing his head up from the bar. O’tipsey obliged and plopped down next to him. “Thanks mate.” he said, taking a whiskey bottle and downing it in one go. Somehow, the alcohol still did not seem to affect him. “How are you drinking so much?” the pegasus asked, amazed at the drinking ability of the large pony. “I dunno,” he shrugged in response. “Strong liver I guess?” Perception Filter grunted and plopped his head down on the bar again. “Hey, buddy,” said O’tipsey “I’m not buying you anymore drinks,” Perception Filter groaned in response. “No, that’s not it.” “Then, what?” “Why are you drinking so much if you can’t handle it?” “Because I’m failing at my job,” he said, not lifting his head. “What’s your job?” O’tipsey asked, finishing his drink. Before responding, Perception Filter looked up with bloodshot eyes at the annoying pony. “Why the fuck are you bothering me?” he asked, irritated. “Making conversation?” O’tipsey said, shrugging again. Perception Filter sighed once more. “So, what’s this job of yours then?” “I work for MagiTech Inc.,” he responded. “I’m supposed to be recruiting ponies for an expedition into the Everfree. Only problem is, nopony sensible wants to go.” “Well, I could help you.” O’tipsey said with a smile. Perception Filter raised an eyebrow at him. “You could?” “Hey, buddy,” the bartender interrupted them. “Buy something or get out.” O’tipsey shot him an annoyed look and threw a few bits on the counter. “Two whiskeys.” The bartender smiled and swept the money into a small pouch and pulled out two new whiskey bottles. “Oh no, I’m not drinking anymore.” Perception Filter said, waving his hoof at the incoming liqueur. “They weren’t for you,” O’tipsey said, downing both of the bottles in a few seconds. “Oh, well then... You were saying you could help me?” “Yeah. You need somepony for heavy lifting?” Perception Filter gave him an incredulous look. “You’re actually willing to go into the Everfree?” “Yeah, why not.” The stallion shrugged. “Is the pay good?” “Well, yes but—” “Then I don’t see the problem!” There was silence for a few moments. Perception Filter pushed himself upright, groaning wearily. He felt as if he were going to fall over for a few moments, but managed to keep his balance. “The trip is going to take a few months to get there and back,” he said, looking at the other pony with newfound interest. “Not a problem. As long as you got liqueur. If you don’t got that, I’m not going. “ “I might be able to arrange that. What kind?” “Anything really,” O’tipsey said, shrugging. “Well then. Since you’re so optimistic about this, why don’t you do me a favor?” Perception Filter asked. “What?” “Take me back to my hotel.” “Woah!” O’tipsey said, taking a step back. “I’m not that drunk dude; I think you’ve had too much.” “No, you stupid idiot, I’m too drunk to walk. I’d never make it back on my own. Since you now technically work for me, I’m telling you to help me back to my hotel.” “Well, okay. But you better not try anything!” O’tipsey said, smiling deviously. Perception Filter sighed and pushed himself away from the bar and fell over. With barely enough time to let loose a curse, he hit the ground and groaned. “You okay?” O’tipsey asked, trying not to laugh, as he leaned over the fallen pegasus. “Help me up you fucking idiot.” Perception filter stuck out a hoof, which O’tipsey took and hauled him up. “Alright then, can I ask your name, o’glorious master?” Perception Filter groaned and facepalmed messily. “You’re one little sarcastic shit aren’t you?” “Yes, yes I am. So, that name?” “I’m Perception Filter.” “Okay then, Perception Filter, where is this hotel of yours?” O’tipsey asked, as they left the bar and walked into the city. The sun was setting slowly in the west, setting the sky ablaze with oranges and reds that were distorted by a gray smoggy haze that hung over the city. “It’s about a mile away. Through the park,” he responded, pointing down the street to a cluster of fenced off trees. “Alrighty then, let’s go,” O’tipsey remarked, with Perception Filter leaning on his shoulder heavily. Slowly but surely, they limped down the street to the faraway park. The trip there was rather uneventful, and no words were spoken. A small chill had worked its way into the air, but the two drunken ponies didn’t notice a thing. Before long they reached the park and were shambling through the trees. The leaves overhead blocked the barely shining moon, trapping both of the ponies in near darkness. “Hey, Percy, can you see anything?” O’tipsey asked, trying to peer through the blackness. “Who’s Percy?” Perception Filter asked. “You,” O’tipsey responded, still trying to look for any light. “Maybe we should go back,” Perception Filter suggested. “Now why would we do that? We’ve come this far.”’ “Because I feel like I’m going to vomit,” Perception Filter said, gagging and falling to the ground. “What, you got some sort of aversion to throwing up in the dark?” “No, I just don’t—” Before he could finish his sentence, he heaved and emptied the contents of his stomach onto the grass with O’tipsey patting his back supportingly. “There there, just let it all out,” he said, snickering under his breath. Perception Filter shot him a glare, but couldn’t hold it for long before going back to retching on the ground. After he finally finished, he wiped his muzzle and slowly got to his feet, legs shaking. “Are you gonna be okay?” “Y-yeah... I think so.” “You really shouldn’t be drinking if you can’t hold your liquor,” O’tipsey commented, hauling the sick pegasus to his feet. Perception Filter swayed a little bit and pushed O’tipsey’s leg away from him, complaining that he could stand just fine. “C’mon guy, you can’t stand just fine. Without my help you wouldn’t have made it this far.” “Wait! Shh, shhh.” Both ponies fell silent and there was no noise. “Is there some reason you’re—” O’tipsey was cut off as Perception Filter clamped his mouth shut. The wind howled eerily through the trees. Slowly, he let go of the affronted pony’s mouth. “Sorry,” he apologized. “Thought I heard something.” “Yeah, well, you do that again I’m not working for you.” “Oh shut up. You love me.” “What?! Okay, that’s it!” The two drunken ponies were too busy arguing to hear a small whistling sound as two green-brown spherical objects whizzed towards them. The two objects hit their mark and exploded into a foul smelling mess. Perception Filter whipped his head around, trying to find the source of the rotten cabbage that was now covering him and O’tipsey. He heard laughing coming from somewhere off behind a few bushes and trees. Quickly—as quickly as a drunk pony could—the pegasus rushed to find the culprit. When he pulled back a particularly large bush and saw a white earth pony filly, probably no more than a teenager, with a green mane laughing her flank off. He scrunched up his face. “Excuse me?” he asked, now aware of how much his voice was slurring. The pony stopped rocking back and forth on the ground and slowly picked herself up, wiping tears from her eyes, still laughing gently. “Y-yeah? What is is mister?” she asked. Her voice was high and squeaky. He blushed a little and started to stumble over his words. “W-well, I was in the neighborhood, and I mean, I was at a bar, and I was going home and the uhm...” he was thankfully stopped when he had to bend over to vomit again. “Ewww! Yech!” the white pony said, backing away as he puked all over the freshly mowed grass. Only a few seconds later, O’tipsey came blundering through the bush, shouting, “Percy?! Percy where are you? Celestia, it’s so fucking dark here.” Perception Filter had by now recovered from his little vomiting session and turned up to O’tipsey. “Go away, or I shall taunt you again! She’s MINE!” “What?” the white pony asked again. “Don’t worry m’lady, I shall protect you!” he said, jumping in front of the confused mare, trying to make a threatening face at O’tipsey, but just ended up scrunching his face oddly. “Yeah, you’ve had way too much to drink buddy,” the white pony said again, pushing him out of the way, and he fell to the ground, and started struggling to get back up. The white pony looked at O’tipsey and held out her hoof. “I’m White Lily!” she said cheerfully, and O’tipsey shook it. “I’m O’tipsey. Sorry about Percy there—” “MY NAME’S NOT PERCY!” Perception Filter shouted angrily, still on his back, waving his legs around, failing to get up. “He can’t really handle his alcohol,” he chuckled as he watched his new friend try to get up. “Oh, it’s really no problem!” she said happily, giggling. “Guys really like me when they’re drunk for some reason.” “I can’t imagine why,” Perception Filter mumbled under his breath, and went back to squirming. White Lily giggled again, and turned back to O’tipsey. “So, what are you two doing out here in the dark, spoooooky, park?” “I was taking Percy to his hotel. He’s just contracted me for an expedition into the Everfree.” Perception Filter shot him a dirty look, and managed to flip over on his stomach, and was now trying to straighten his legs. “Ooohh! That sounds fun! Can I come?” White Lily asked, jumping a little. “No!” Perception Filter said, as he managed to finally stand up. “No, no, no!” “Why not?” the white mare whined, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. “There is no room for children on this expedition! None at all.” “Awww, plllleeaasseee?” She stretched out her lower lip and widened her eyes, and started tearing up. This would have torn most any pony up inside, but Perception Filter just happened to be mind-shatteringly drunk. “No! End of discussion!” As if to put a period to his point, he passed out and started snoring on the grass. “So,” O’tipsey said, “It was nice to meet you, but I have to get my boss to his hotel.” “Are you sure I can’t come?” White Lily asked, kicking a nearby rock. “Yeah, sorry, but the boss has the final call... Say, why are you here anyways?” “What, in the park?” O’tipsey nodded. “Oh, I like it here. I really like plants and they like me.” “Well then, that’s that,” O’tipsey said, bending over and hauling Perception Filter onto his back. “See you later, maybe.” White Lily gave a half-hearted “bye”, and trudged off. Author's Note I apologize to those I had to cut out of the story. Please don't hate me. It was just too hard.
Chapter 3Everfree 1 Chapter 3 Perception Filter’s Hotel Room, Canterlot City The Morning After... Perception Filter groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, and was struck by a mind-shattering headache. He threw his hooves up in a futile attempt to shield his eyes as Celestia’s newly risen sun struck him head on. Quickly grabbing his comforter, he pulled it over his and and fell to the floor. Groaning in pain, he started crawling over the floor, inch by agonizing inch to the window. Reaching out, not daring to look, he tried to find the string that lowered the blinds. After hours (minutes) of fruitless searching, the pegasus finally managed to grab ahold of it and lower the blinds in place, plunging the hotel room into blissful darkness. Crawling out from under his makeshift blanket covering, Perception Filter started to walk—very unsteadily—to the restroom. With the room so dark, he bumped, smashed, and stumbled into most every piece of furniture the room had; yet he dared not face the sun again. It’s burning touch was too much to bear. Eventually though, he managed to make it to his destination. He flipped on the light switch and was greeted by a... thing. He jumped slightly in shock before he realized it was him. “Heheh,” he chuckled humorously, but groaned and clutched his head again as his headache worsened. “Ugh, what happened last night?” “Hey, why is it so dark in here?” came a familiar voice from his room. Without warning the blinds that he had only just closed flared open, heralding in the blinding white sunlight. “AGHHH!” Perception Filter shouted, and he fell over as the light struck him like a giant hammer. “Are you okay in there?” the voice sounded again. He looked up to see the filly with the green mane and white coat from last night rush in to help him. He could vaguely recall that her name was White Lily. Then a horrible thought occurred to him. “OH CELESTIA! WHAT DID I DO LAST NIGHT?!” he yelled, then curled up into a ball as his own voice pounded in his ear. “Do?” White Lily asked confusedly. “What do you mean....” she trailed off as she caught Perception Filter’s meaning. “OH NO! That’s sick!” She jumped back away from him, and backed into the room. “What is wrong with you?!” she screamed at him. “Ohh, Celestia, my head.” “Why would you even think that?!” White Lily was completely revolted, and she was still screaming at the pegasus writhing in pain on the ground. “Please stop,” he groaned. “My head, ohh.” “Ugh! I’m leaving!” White Lily yelled one last time before she sped out the door. At last, blessed silence. Sweet, sweet silence. Perception Filter nearly laughed when the noise was finally over, but he caught himself. Kicking the door closed, he crawled into the shower and turned on the water to ice cold. The water hit him like he was jumping into a frozen river, and he howled in pain as his head screamed at him. Eventually, the pain subsided and he climbed out and toweled himself off— his headache still there, but less intense than before. He exited his room, making sure to close the blinds in case he came home drunk again, and headed off. His next destination was the Royal Palace. He was hoping to talk Celestia into letting him borrow a few guards for security. She had already refused his request, but he had to try. He was not going to go scavenging on the street again. He trotted past few ponies in the street, for it was still relatively early, but he nodded politely to whomever he saw. Soon, he reached the Palace. Celestia had really let the place go in the past few years. The once perfect and gleaming white stone was now cracked and smeared with a layer of dirt. However, the guards remained as resolute as ever, and as he approached the giant door, the guards crossed their spears and stopped him dead in his tracks. “State your name and business,” they said at the same time, in a way that made Perception Filter shiver. He never got why they talked like that. “I’m Perception Filter. I come from Magitech Inc. and I need to speak to the princess about business matters.” The guard nodded to the other one, and they withdrew their spears and opened the door. “Move along.” Perception Filter nodded gratefully and trotted forward as quickly as possible. The interior of the castle was in the same state of disrepair that the outside was. The once graceful and bright rugs that adorned the floor were filthy and stained. He kept his gaze forward and tried to ignore the guards with spears that lined the halls to the throne room. He knew that if he twitched the wrong way, he would be attacked without hesitation. He reached the throne room and heard shouting within. The guards posted at the door held out their hooves. “You must wait until Celestia is finished with her current audience.” Perception Filter nodded wordlessly and held his ground. The shouting inside the throne room was emanating from the ‘princess’ as she explained in great detail what a pompous fool some pony named “Blueblood” was. After a few minutes, the doors slammed open and a white pony with a golden mane ran out crying. He looked up to see Celestia upon her throne with a devious smile. “Come in,” she said, keeping her evil grin the whole time. Perception Filter smiled nervously and gulped. He took a few steps in and the doors slammed shut behind him. He jumped in the air and let out a rather feminine squeal before he composed himself. “Hello Perception Filter,” Celestia said, still grinning. “H-hello your majesty,” he replied, bowing before the princess. “Rise. So, what is it that Magitech needs this time?” she asked with a sigh, leaning on her hoof. “W-well we are s-still looking for some help with that Everfree expedit—” “Did your superiors not hear me last time I spoke to them?” Celestia interrupted, with an angry tone. “W-well yes b-but—” “Then you know that I will never have anything to do with that damned forest ever, again.” “Y-yes your majesty,” he said with another bow, hoping to keep her calm. She sighed and leaned on the edge of her chair. “If you are so adamant in this, talk to my security advisor Pen Knife. It is his choice whether to help you or not. Either way, I do not want to hear anything about this ever again. Am I clear?” Her tone was very hostile, and Perception Filter quickly promised he would never mention it again. “Good, now if that is all, I would ask that you leave me. I have more of these pesky nobles to... converse with.” “Yes your majesty,” he bowed one last time and scooted out of the room and took a sigh of relief. He asked directions to where Pen Knife was from the nearest guard and had to traverse the lengthy hallways once again before he came to another door, this once much less grand than the one to the throne room. He knocked on the door and it opened at his touch. He peeked in to see what he assumed were guard barracks. They were mostly empty, save for four ponies sitting at a table playing cards. He walked in warily, and was about to speak up when a brown pony held his hoof up, and pushed a large amount of poker chips into the center of the table. Perception Filter casually glanced at his hand and saw he only had a pair of tens. One of the other three ponies folded, and the other two matched his bet. He then pushed the rest of his chips in, and one pony folded. It was just him and the other guard now. The other guard matched his bet, and laid down his cards. He had a pair of nines. The brown pony smiled smugly and laid his hand down. All the other ponies groaned as he raked in the cash. “Alright men, breaks over. Back to your posts,” he said, and the others saluted and trotted off. “So, Perception Filter,” said the brown pony—whom, the pegasus noticed, had a broken-off horn—as he pushed the poker chips into a bag. “You know who I am?” Perception Filter asked, surprised. “Celestia informed me you were coming. She didn’t tell me what you needed though.” “Well,” he began. “I need some guards for an expedition into the Everfree forest. We lost contact with our base and are mounting an expedition to see what went wrong.” “How long ago did you lose contact?” “A few months ago, but weather conditions were preventing any mounting of searches.” “Well, first off, you should know that I am Pen Knife, if you haven’t guessed already. You should also know that the men at your base are probably dead.” “Yes, we assumed as much. However, we still have to know what happened.” “I guess I can see that. Alright, I’ll help ya.” “Really?” asked Perception Filter in shock. “Yes, I’m tired of working for Celestia, and I’m sure a few of my men are too.” Pen Knife was now moving around the room, straightening things up. “Alright then... Here, take my card, you’ll need it to get in touch.” He procured another of his business cards and handed it to Pen Knife. “Also, one last thing before I leave.” “Yes?” “Do you know any Cartographers or pleasent journalists? “Why?” “Well,” he said, “My superiors want to map as much of the forest as possible, and someone to document the journey. They’re always looking to get the most of their money.” “I know a journalist who isn’t too much of a pain, but she’s really sad all the time. Her name is Drifting Facade.” “Do you know where she works?” Pen Knife gave him the address and trotted outside, giving him a half-hearted wave goodbye. ~~~~~ FoB Post Offices, Canterlot City A Few Minutes Later... Perception Filter looked at the building before him. It was brown and black and looked like it was infested with every kind of parasite ever. Still, this was the address that Pen Knife had given him, so... He walked up to the front door and entered warily, looking everywhere in case something should jump out and try to eat him. With the state that the building was in, he wouldn’t—couldn’t— put it behind him. He came up to a rotting desk and saw a mare sitting behind it, singing something under her breath. She had a gray coat, and messy blue hair. Perception Filter walked up to the desk and tapped it lightly, for fear that it might fall apart. The mare looked up, and took a small glance at him. “Yes, something you need?” she asked, not unkindly. “Are you Drifting Facade?” “That’s me,” she said, getting up onto her hooves. She held one out and Perception Filter took it, shaking it softly. “So, what do you want?” “Well, I was told that you were a journalist... And I was hoping that...” he trailed off a little. “Yes?” “Could you help document an expedition into the Everfree forest?” he asked, and Drifting Facade shrugged. “I don’t see why not. What’s the expedition for, and how much are you paying?” “Well.” He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “We can guarantee at least 500 bits up front, and when you get back, another 500 bits. We’re mounting this expedition to reestablish contact with a base we lost over the winter. We figure that most or all of the workers are already dead, but we have valuable tech in that base.” “That sounds reasonable I guess. When’s all this going down?” “In a few days, if things permit.” “What things?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “Well,” he began, “I’m still looking for one more pony to take with us. We need a cartographer.” “Why would you need a cartographer? Don’t you already know where the base is?” “Well yes, but my bosses are always looking for ways to maximize profit and minimize money loss. To do that, they intend to map out as much of the forest as they can.” “Well, there’s one pony, but she’s kinda....” “Off?” Perception Filter suggested. “No, she’s kind of a bitch.” “Oh...” he paused, at a small loss for words. “So, ah, what’s her name?” “Shadow Clock. She’s brown, with a brunette mane, and some of the weirdest eyes you’ve ever seen. You can’t miss her. You can usually find her down by the Drunken Stallion. You know where it is?” “Yeah, I might’ve been there once or twice.” His memory flashed back to the previous night, when he was getting smashed on whiskey and every kind of conceivable alcohol. He shook his head vigorously, and got rid of the memories. “Thanks for the help, I’ll be in touch.” They shook hooves, and Perception Filter gave her his card. ~~~~~ The Drunken Stallion, Canterlot City A Few Hours Later... Perception Filter entered the seedy bar, glancing around. Compared to last night, this place was packed full. The tables were packed with stallions playing cards, and there bar was completely jammed with all kinds of intelligent species. There were a few griffons and diamond dogs even. Shrugging mentally, he trotted into the bar, keeping an eye out for Shadow Clock. Despite what Drifting Facade had said, if Shadow Clock was here, she was not standing out at all. Squeezing past some shady figures, who growled at him as he moved by, he approached the bartender and tapped the polished wood to get his attention. The pony looked up and raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m looking for Shadow Clock!” Perception Filter shouted over the harsh din that assaulted his ears. The bartender didn’t respond, but instead jerked his head towards the back. Perception Filter squeezed back between the shady figures again and started to maneuver his way to the back, avoiding the haphazard maze of chairs, tables, and ponies. As he approached the back, a pony that fit the description Drifting Facade gave him became apparent. She was leg-wrestling with a large, green, burly stallion. They both had determined expressions on their faces. Shadow clock licked her lips and grinned, while the stallion had a worried expression on his face. They sat there, legs locked in embrace for several seconds, and time seemed to stop around them. Then, without warning the atmosphere shifted and Shadow Clock slammed the stallion’s leg down on the table with a large crack. The stallion screamed and pulled back his leg. “My leg!” he yelled. “You broke my leg! You bitch!” “Get over it,” Shadow Clock said, taking a shot of whiskey. Her voice was rough, almost like a stallions. Several ponies were lined up, unhappily giving her several bits. The stallion glared at her, and got up. “This isn’t over. I’m going to find you and—” “And what?” asked Shadow Clock, standing up abruptly, knocking her chair over. Everypony froze. The stallion started stuttering as he slowly backed away from Shadow Clock. He turned tail and ran out of the bar, dragging his limp leg on the ground. Shadow Clock smirked, fixed her chair, and sat down as if nothing had happened. The bar went back to normal, with all of its yelling and shouting. Perception Filter approached Shadow Clock warily and gently tapped on the table to get her attention. She grunted, but didn’t look at him. “Whaddya want?” she growled. He cleared his throat nervously, and spoke up, trying his hardest to sound professional.. “Well, I am here as a representative of MagiTech Inc. and I want to—” Shadow Clock interrupted him by shooting up out of her chair and slamming a knife on the table; where she had procured it, Perception Filter had no idea. He did, however, flinch back in shock. “What do you want?” she asked hostilely, and he started stuttering as he tried to back away. “I asked, what do you want?!” Perception Filter kept stuttering without fail, and Shadow Clock pulled the knife out of the table and held it up threateningly. “OH CELESTIA DON’T KILL ME!” he screamed, covering his head with his legs in a futile attempt to shield his face. After a few seconds of him not dying, he tentatively looked up and saw Shadow Clock holding the knife up, glaring at him. “Who are you and what, do, you, want?” she said through gritted teeth. “I-I’m P-P-Perception F-Filter, and I-I’m here to ask for your help, and please don’t kill me!” he pleaded. Shadow Clock lowered the knife slightly, and motioned for him to continue. “I-I’m h-here from MagiTech Inc. and w-we need s-somepony with y-your skills.” He was shaking furiously, and when he realized he wasn’t going to die, he noticed the stares that everypony in the bar was giving him. “Somepony get this guy a drink,” Shadow Clock called. She sat down and sheathed the knife by her leg—where he now saw she had a small leather strap that held the sheath. A few seconds later, a random pony came over and handed him a beer bottle. He looked at it and saw that it was one of the weakest kinds you could buy. “Uhh,” he started, but with the look the stallion gave him, he knew he would be pushing his luck. “Nevermind. T-thanks.” “So, why does MagiTech need me?” she asked, calmly, taking a swig of beer as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Perception Filter forced himself to take a deep breath and calm himself. To a degree, he succeeded, but he was still shaking minutely. “I... We, need a cartographer for our expedition into the Everfree forest. We lost contact with a base, and we need to find out what happened.” Shadow Clock gave a loud, humorless laugh and slammed her drink onto the table noisily. “Nopony has contacted me with a job to do with my actual profession in years!” “W-why?” “I’ve been too busy with other shit. So, how’s they pay?” Perception Filter brightened when the subject turned to money. He had her snared, all he had to do was pull her in. He was in his element. “Well, we’re offering an advance payment of five-hundred bits, with a follow-up of another five-hundred.” Shadow Clock gave him a different look, and raised an eyebrow. “That sure is a lot of money,” she said. “Is it hazard pay?” “Well, mostly. The Everfree is dangerous, and you’ll be gone awhile. In the event of your death, all of your bits will be forwarded to the closest living relative, or whomever you decide to give it to..” “So, what happens if I don’t have any relatives?” she asked, taking another drink. Perception Filter shrugged. “Nothing. There’s nopony to send the money to.” “Alright,” Shadow Clock said, with a smile. “You got yourself a deal.” “Excellent! Now, if you would just—” “Ab-bup-bup! First off, I have one condition,” she said, her smile not faltering. “Which is?” “You don’t tell your bosses who I am. If you do, I’ll kill you, in the dead of night. It’ll look like just one more accident in the forest. Got it?” Perception Filter gulped and shakily held out his hoof, and Shadow Clock shook it.
Chapter 4Everfree 1 Chapter 4 MagiTech Headquarters, Canterlot City Two Weeks Later... Several ponies of all shapes and sizes wandered around the lobby, waiting for their host, Perception Filter, to greet them. As they did this, they all— at one point or another— had read every magazine available, sat in every chair, paced around the room a dozen times, and had conversed with one another. One popular topic of conversation was their destination, the mysterious, and largely dangerous, Everfree forest. Each of them had been told bare minimum of what they needed to know, but none had been told the whole story. One pony, named Psyche, was busily investigating everything he could about his surroundings and the ponies that were destined to work with him, just like a stallion evaluating his resources. The first he spoke to was Pyromancer. “Hello there,” he said in a strictly neutral tone as he approached the slightly insane pegasus. “Hi there! I’m Pyromancer!” he chirped, and held out his hoof to shake. “Do you need something lit on fire?” Psyche scratched his chin, contemplating his options. “I need you to burn that chair over there,” he said after a moment's contemplation, pointing across the room. “Oh yeah! I sat in it earlier!” “I want you to burn it.” “Why?” Pyromancer asked, still smiling. “I want to see how your fur resists the fire, it may be useful to know.” “Okay, sure!” Pyromancer trotted away from Psyche, ignoring his small remark, and picked up the chair, before dragging it outside the doors, into the midday sun. He quickly procured a matchbox and struck a flame before dropping it on the chair. As the innocent and poor chair was slowly consumed with flames, Pyromancer picked it up and put it on his head, before entering the building once more. All attention was drawn to him as the burning chair atop his head slowly disintegrated to nothing. “Heya guys!” he said happily, as if nothing had happened. “Watcha’ starin’ at?” “You’re a freak,” Shadow Clock jumped in. She was currently sitting down and reading another magazine. She didn’t even bother to look up. “Aww, that’s mean...” Drifting Facade interjected. “He just has a special talent is all...” Her voice was low, and while she was not shy, her voice took on a meek undertone while talking to Shadow Clock. “You’re a freak too,” she said, licking her hoof and flipping another page in the magazine. Drifting Facade frowned, but didn’t respond, and simply went back to pacing around. Psyche smiled and approached Shadow Clock with new interest. He didn’t say anything when he got to her, and instead started staring at her eyes, never blinking. Shadow Clock looked up from her magazine with an unamused expression on her face, and she raised an eyebrow. “Something you want freak?” “Shhhh,” Psyche said. “Stop blinking.” Confused, Shadow Clock blinked once again, and Psyche let out a small frown. “Stop. Blinking,” he demanded. Shadow Clock narrowed her eyes again, and then blinked once more, just to spite him, and snapped her magazine back into place. “Beat it freak.” “Oh, you shall work quite well...” he murmured, walking away with a sadistic smile still in place. As he walked away, he noted a brown unicorn with a broken horn talking to an onyx-colored unicorn. They seemed to be hiding away from everypony else, and whenever anypony approached them, the skirted away. Psyche was tapping his chin, thinking of a way of approaching the one with the broken horn, when the doors leading down into the facility burst open, revealing a frazzled Perception Filter. “Everypony, quickly! This way!” he shouted, before turning away and bolting down the hall to an unknown destination. There were some grumbles, and some shrugs as the ponies in the lobby hastily wrapped up their conversations, but they all followed. ~~~~~ Before they reached their destination, Perception Filter had to turn around several times to guide the crowd through the winding corridors and down a few flights of stairs. All the while, murmurs were floating away from the group, mostly concerning what had their host in such a rush. Eventually, they reached what seemed like the end of the twisting and turning hallways, and saw Perception Filter sitting by a door, breathing heavily. “P-please... Come... In...” he panted out, before opening the door. Inside, there were a few lights on, but the majority of the room was painted in darkness. They all warily entered, and as their eyes adjusted to the light, they saw a tape recorder with a tape lying next to it. “F-folks...” He stopped for a moment, and breathed in some more. “T-this, is our mission.” “Mission?” Shadow Clock asked. “What the hell is this, some sort of game?” “No, in fact it isn’t,” he replied, matter-of-factly. “This is a very serious matter, and this is your last chance to back out.” “Back out of what?” Pen Knife asked, speaking to someone other than the onyx unicorn that was following him for the first time. “Our deal. Once you hear what’s on this tape, you can’t leave. If you decide to stay, we will hold each and every one of you responsible for backing out of a legal contract. Does anypony want to leave?” There was no sound at first, but slowly, one pony in the back coughed, and the whole crowd parted to see who it was. It was O’Tipsey, who was raising his hoof. “I take it you want to leave, O’Tipsey?” “No, I just wanted to ask a question,” he responded, lowering his hoof. “Shoot.” Perception Filter licked his lips and put on a nervous grin. “Are you still gonna be packing alcohol for me?” Perception Filter smiled, and let out a small relieved sigh. “For a second there, I thought you were gonna quit on me.” He let out a small chuckle, and tried to regain his posture. “Naw man. As long as you’re packing the alcohol and keeping your promise about the bits, I’m still in,” O’Tipsey said with a smile. Perception Filter turned to the rest of the group and tapped the floor twice. “Well, everypony still in?” This time there were no responses. He let out another, less audible, sigh of relief. “Okay, now then. What you are all about to hear, cannot leave this room. Everybody got that?” A general consensus of murmurs and “yes”’s were heard from the small group of ponies before Perception Filter nodded. “Right then,” he said. Without another word, he picked up the loose tape and put it in the tape recorder, and pressed play. There was a small hissing noise as the tape started, and then somepony spoke. It was a filly, that had a rough, gravelly, and harsh voice. “This is the base Everfree 1, contacting MagiTech HQ in Canterlot, somepony please respond,” she said, before someone else picked up on the other end. “This is MagiTech Headquarters. Please identify yourself.” “This is communications officer Sugar Fields, I.D.: Four-hundred A.X. Twelve.” “Please wait a moment while I process your identification,” the operator said. There was silence for a moment, and then they could hear “Sugar Fields” moving around and muttering, “C’mon, c’mon, hurry up.” “Processing complete. How may I help you Sugar Fields?” “Okay, this is a Code-A4 distress call, it is urgent.” “Please state the nature of your distress call,” the operator said tonelessly. “Okay, this is gonna sound ridiculous, but there is something here,” Sugar Fields said in a voice that suggested she was having a hard time even believing her own story. “Please clarify.” “We found something out there, and now it’s in here. Listen, I don’t know the details but....” The call faded out for a few moments, and all that could be heard was static. “What was that ma’am?” the operator asked. “I said that—” Without warning her sentence was cut off by a shrill scream, and the sound of a scuffle on the other end of the call. “Ma’am?” All that could be heard after that was the sound of a sickening *crunch* and what sounded like an explosion before the call went dead. Perception Filter popped the tape out of the recorder and set it aside. “We received this call a few months ago. Weather conditions have not permitted an expedition until this time,” he said, with a frown. “Wait a minute,” Pen Knife interjected. “Let me get one thing straight.” “Yes?” “Your distress system is based upon a call service that requires a running check on I.D. before any complaints can be made?” “Yes, that is correct. It is an efficient system.” “No, no it isn’t!” Pen Knife said incredulously. “What if some, life-threatening condition were to emerge and they couldn’t get help in time?” “They wouldn’t be able to get help in time anyways. Even during the summer, expeditions into the forest are long and we often lose members. It is a completely voluntary position, so anyone signing up knows all the risks that come with being assigned to such a post. Besides, any troubles they would encounter in the forest are ones they are equipped to handle.” “That is no excuse.” “It is not your, nor my call to make. In any case, it is too late to leave,” Perception Filter said with a dark frown. “Are there any other questions?” This time, Jarome was the one to speak up. “Okay, I have a question,” he said. Perception Filter nodded, and he continued. “Why do you need me in all this? You said you’ve led expeditions into the forest before, why me? And why don’t you have a trained crew specifically for this job?” “We need you, put simply, because we lost our last guide on the last trip. He was mauled by a manticore. The reason we don’t have a specifically trained crew for this, is because most that we hire die, or if they don’t, don’t want to go back into the forest.” "It takes more money to train people that it does to find those who already have the skills,” Psyche said. “It’s efficient. I like it.” Perception Filter nodded in agreement, and motioned towards him. “Psyche knows,” he said. Jarome’s face darkened, and the atmosphere in the room seemed to get a little bit heavier on everypony’s brow. There was a brief silence, once again, and then the onyx unicorn that Pen Knife had been talking to spoke up. “So, when’s all this shit goin’ down?” he asked in a casual tone, yet his tone suggested a deep, underlying sadness. “What’s your name?” Perception Filter asked, and Pen Knife cut in. “He’s Blizzard. He’s one of my men, here for security.” “Well then. To answer your question, tomorrow. We already have all our supplies packed, and the caravan ready to roll out. We have provided rooms for all of you. If those are all the questions, I will take you back to the lobby where our receptionist will show you to your rooms.” Nopony spoke. “See you tomorrow. Try to get a good night’s sleep.” ~~~~~ MagiTech Headquarters, Canterlot City The Following Morning... Down in the lobby of the building, there were a few ponies already up and talking, waiting for the others. Among them were Psyche, Drifting Facade, and Pyromancer. While Pyromancer was busy lighting magazines on fire with his lighter, (something that the receptionist was having a very hard time not pulling the alarm to call the guards on) Drifting Facade was trying to hold a conversation with Psyche; much to his dismay. “I don’t really want to work here anymore,” the filly said, her ears drooped low. “And? How exactly does this affect me?” he snapped, irritated at having to converse with somepony for so long. “Well geeze,” she said, backing a step away. “You don’t have to be so rude.” “And you don’t have to keep bothering me with this incessant conversation, yet you keep talking. I consider that rude of you.” “How exactly did you manage to get hired?” Drifting Facade asked. “Mister Filter found me on the street after the hospital manager turned him down. Offered the job, I took it.” “Well, I think it’s a bit disturbing that—” she was cut off as another pony pushed their way through the double doors that led to the apartments in the upper levels of the building. It actually turned out to be Pen Knife and Blizzard, who walked over to Pyromancer, but seemed to reconsider it when they saw what he was doing. So instead they redirected themselves towards Psyche and Drifting Facade. “Good morning Pen Knife,” Drifting Facade said, politely tilting her head. “And a good morning to you too,” he replied. He seemed a bit distant to Drifting Facade, but that was to be expected if yesterday was any indicator. There was a very brief moment of awkward silence, but Psyche broke it by speaking to Blizzard. “So,” he said, “Blizzard was your name, right?” “Yeah, that’s me,” replied the unicorn, still in a dejected and depressing tone. “Good. Tell me, why are you so... sad?” “I don’t like being a unicorn. I used to have wings and a horn, but, I got stuck with the horn.” “Wait, wait, wait,” Drifting Facade interrupted. “You were an alicorn? How come I’ve never heard of you before?” “Oh,” he said with a tone that suggested he might actually care about this topic of conversation, “I wasn’t an alicorn. I was a Changeling. I got stuck in this,” he gestured towards his body, “form when... something, happened.” Everypony in the room, save for Pyromancer and Psyche, froze at the mention of the word “Changeling”. They all turned towards him and stared at him. Drifting Facade gulped and shakily asked a question. “W-what?” “I used to be a Changeling,” Blizzard stated. “Well, I still am, I’m just stuck like this. Before any more questions could be asked, Psyche held up a hoof and interrupted the conversation. “How?” he asked, his eyes boring into Blizzard. “What?” “How did you get stuck like that?” “I don’t really like to talk about it...” he trailed off. Psyche exhaled slowly and took a deep breath. “Why don’t you tell me...” he said in a tone that suggested it would be a bad idea not to. Blizzard took a glance at him, as if evaluating him in a new light. “Why do you want to know?” “Just tell me,” Psyche said impatiently. Blizzard paused for a moment, and then shook his head. “No, I won’t.” Psyche glared at him, and said in an undertone, “You should tell me, now.” There was a very tense, awkward silence as everypony else present waited to see what became of the conversation.. Eventually, Blizzard relented, and bowed his head. “I got hit in the horn with something during the battle of Canterlot as I was battling the royal guard. I disguised myself as one of them to cause confusion, and then one of the guards I was attacking noticed me and launched a piece of brick at my horn. Everything went black after that. When I woke up, I was in the dungeon.” Psyche tapped the ground with his hoof a few times, as if contemplating the new information he had been given, then, “Say, Blizzard. I think I know a way for you to be a Changeling again...” “Really?” he responded, his dejected tone lightening with the promise of a new hope. “Should Miss Clock meet an untimely death, which is more likely than not, I could transplant his horn to you, possibly allowing you to perform the magic needed to change back.” The room fell into another awkward silence, pierced by the sound of Pyromancer flicking his lighter, trying to ignite the magazines in his grasp. “What...” Drifting Facade started, but trailed off. And right at that moment, Shadow Clock walked in the room, and all eyes went to her. “What?” she asked, looking around. “What are you assholes looking at?” Nopony said anything, and Shadow Clock let out a half-chuckle that sounded more like a forced snort. “Fine, don’t talk. It don’t matter to me.” She walked into the room and sat down, and all eyes gradually drifted away from her to Psyche again. Blizzard was the next one to speak. “So... Do you really think you could help me get back to being a Changeling?” he asked, making sure to keep his voice low. “Da,” Psyche said, reminding everyone that he was from Stalliongrad. For the first time since anyone saw him, Blizzard smiled. “Thank you,” he whispered as his eyes teared up. “Thank you so much.” Then, without warning, he rushed forward and (much to Psyche’s dismay) embraced him in a hug. “Ugh, yes,” he said. “Now let go.” Reluctantly, Blizzard pulled away, yet insisted upon standing near Psyche. Pen Knife gave him with an odd look, but stayed silent. Psyche put on a disgusted expression and tried to scoot away from Blizzard, yet he would have none of that; every time Psyche would move, Blizzard scooted up next to his side. The doors opened once again, and revealed Jarome and O’Tipsey trotting out to join everyone else in the lobby. O’Tipsey looked as if he could care less about anything and everything happening around him, so he went to sit down. He procured a flask of whiskey and started drinking, observing the state of the room. Jarome, on the other hand, was a different story. He looked as if he were about to rip off somepony’s head, and if one were to judge by the way he swore profusely at anyone approached him, and his angry hoofsteps, he probably would. Only a few seconds after the two ponies, Perception Filter emerged from the double doors and swung his hoof around and whistled to get everypony’s attention. Once everypony was silent, he spoke. “Well then, welcome to day one of the Everfree expedition. I hope you are all well rested, because we have a long day ahead of us. Remember, before we leave, we’re laying down some ground rules. One: nopony goes anywhere alone. Two: Accidents are going to happen, and people are going to get hurt, maybe even die. In this event, nopony tries to be a hero, and nopony panic. “Lastly, and most importantly, there is something dangerous waiting for us at Everfree 1. We don’t know what it is, but we have taken several precautions against whatever it may be. Any questions before we head out?” Nopony said anything, and Perception Filter nodded. “Alright, let’s head out.”
