//------------------------------// // Ch. 2: "Eighteen." // Story: Forest of Lost Foals // by Dusk-Spark //------------------------------// It took about an hour for everyone to arrive by the entrance to the Everfree. Scootaloo, Pipsqueak, and Saphira had no trouble getting there. To ward off any suspicion, he'd told his dad, uncle Heavyweight and his aunt Nova that he'd be Nightmare Nighting with Scootaloo and that he was probably gonna sleep over at Applebloom's house (good thing none of them knew that Applebloom was out of town). Everyone else probably had a much more difficult time getting out of their homes. Scootaloo and Saphira had no problems whatsoever, Pipsqueak would've asked how they managed it, but they were surprisingly evasive. Whatever. There were six groups of three gathered in front of the Everfree Forest. There were supposed to be more ponies, but it looked as though they decided to chicken out at the last minute. Group 1: Scootaloo - Wonderbolt (but with a Rainbow Dash cutie mark painted on the flank and some red streaks because why not?) Pipsqueak - The red scarfed monster slayer from the League of Monster Slayers comic (he‘d grown out his tail JUST so he could pull off the look…despite his dad and uncle telling him that he was gonna start looking like a filly soon) Saphira - Just wearing a simple brown hood and cloak (Practical, except there was a purple clasp to pull the outfit together). Group 2: Diamond Tiara - Expensive Princess outfit (fitted with, what Pipsqueak assumed were REAL diamonds. Knowing Diamond Tiara, of course they were) Silver Spoon - A slightly less expensive princess outfit (Her parents weren't as rich as Diamond Tiara's, so her outfit looked of considerably lower quality) Twist (poor Twist) - A cupcake (even had little foam sprinkles). Group 3: Featherweight - Ace Detective outfit (Pipsqueak preferred adventure and horror to an extent, Featherweight was really into the mystery genre) Dinky - Mail Pony (probably in honor of her mom) Noi - Actual Wonderbolt costume (No one could ever beat Scootaloo as a Rainbow Dash fan). Group 4: Snips - A zombie (All he did was rip up some clothe and smother white paint on his face) Snails - Also a zombie (Almost exactly the same, but with considerably less effort put into it) Rumble - A worn out dragon (kind of looked like the one Spike had last year, he may have actually borrowed it from Spike, seemed a bit loose on him though) Group 5: Coronet - Dressed as one of Luna’s royal guards (just without the Nightkin features. She had the foam wings though). Archer - Wooden ranger barding (because of course she would). Firelocks - A Jack-O-Lantern (Her costume was such a stark contrast to theres. Leave it to Firelocks to just do her own thing). Group 6: Green Daze - vampire Lemon Daze - werewolf Shady Daze - A mummy (or just a pony wrapped up in toilet paper) “’Ello Featherweight.” Pipsqueak greeted his taller, lankier cousin. “Hey Pipsqueak.” He pulled Pipsqueak into a headlock and ruffled his mane playfully. Why did EVERYPONY keep doing that? "Jus' ya wait until I get big!" The two cousins shared a laugh and then bumped hoofs, secret hoofshake and such. Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon had the sugar-lump rump, CMC had whatever they did, Pipsqueak and Featherweight had the hoof bump. "Looks like some ponies didn't come." Featherweight observed. "Yeah...can't be as brave as me!" "Didn't you spend last year's Nightmare Night running and screaming from Princess Luna?" "That was for fun!" "Ssssure it was." “Ahem!” Diamond Tiara called out over the crowd, standing on a big rock to look down over the ponies. That smug grin of hers really rubbed Pipsqueak the wrong way. She just held that position for several seconds, even after everyone had quieted down. She was enjoying being at the top way too much. "So..." Rumble started to speak from the front of the crowd. “Guys, Diamond Tiara is trying to speak, so could you all, like, be quiet for a minute?” Silver Spoon urged, once again kissing up to Diamond Tiara. It was just really sad to see it. “I’m glad you all decided to show up. Guess you AREN‘T scaredy ponies after all.” “Then we can go back to town?” Lemon Daze raised her hoof, “Cause I heard Rainbow Dash had something special planned for-” Diamond Tiara slammed her hooves down on the rock; “No! You can’t go back yet!” She shouted quite loudly. Lemon Daze shrank behind her brothers, apparently not liking loud noises. “All you’ve done is pass the initiation. Now comes the true test.” She digs into her princess costume's pockets and pulled out the Rune Stone. “I assume at least one pony from every group has their runes? Good. Now, here are the rules. You‘re going to follow the path into the Everfree forest. Everyone is going to take different roads and find…” Diamond Tiara's voice trailed off, she put a hoof to her chin quizzically. Already the plan was falling apart. She must’ve lost her train of thought. “Silver Spoon!” She barked at the gray filly by the side of the big rock. Silver Spoon perked up, “Yes, Diamond?!” So eager to please. “How dare you forget what we were supposed to do!” “I-I’m sorry, Diamond.” Silver Spoon’s eyes darted around, as if the answer to the problem was hidden somewhere amongst the trees. Silver Spoon dug into her saddlebag, pulling out a box and laying it before the gathered ponies. “You’re forgiven. You‘re lucky I‘m nice!” The acidic tone in her voice made Silver Spoon cower from Diamond Tiara, “As I was saying," She shot another glare in Silver Spoon's directions (this was making Pipsqueak very uncomfortable). "I've been told there's a big haunted house deep in the Everfree, in the box are maps of the Everfree, marked to show you which path you're supposed to take in order to get there. Use your Runes to mark it so we know you made it and didn‘t turn tail and run. Anyone who runs away will be labeled a chicken until the end of time!” “Can we call ourselves the League of Monster Slayers?” Pipsqueak suddenly spoke up. . . . . Most eyes were on the small earth pony now. Some confused, others stifling a laughter, Diamond Tiara looking annoyed. What? It was a cool name and he was dressed like the main character anyways. Even had the cool scarf to match. He shuddered at all the chores he had to do just to pay for it! Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes, “Fine, whatever. Now come on let‘s go.”