Everfree 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.