FatPat

Still's ears perk up as he walks through the forest. It's somewhat faint, but he can make out voices in the distance. Instinctively, Still casts a spell turning himself invisible. He doesn't move for a moment. The voices continue to yell. "Someone could be in trouble over there," Still thinks to himself. "But if I go check it, then I'll be in trouble too." Still just can't help his curiosity, and starts moving towards the noises. The yelling had stopped, and now he could hear movements. As Still gets closer it begins to sound more and more like ponies moving around. He stops for a moment not wanting to get too close. Still's ears perk up again and he jumps a little. The trees around him begin to move. Not just move, but shake very violently. Even though he's invisible, Still starts to get worried. Being invisible isn't foolproof. If whatever's lurking around in the trees can sense him in some other way...he could be in trouble.

Still felt his hooves step onto the tiny leaves of a bush. "At least it's not a tree," he thought as he crouched down to take cover. The nearby rustling was getting louder and louder. "Please just be a squirrel." Then it stopped. The forest went back to being dead silent. Still raised his head up and looked around.

"Is anypony there?" Still called out towards the campsite. He looked around while waiting for a response. Nothing was moving, not a sound could be heard, and it was oddly dark. Still suddenly felt very alone. "Is that a...no?" Still almost jumped out of his skin when he heard sound coming from beside him. The shrubs alongside the dirt path; something in them was moving. Still slowly started taking steps backwards while his mind began racing. Was it an animal? Was it dangerous? Was it harmless? Was somepony playing a trick on him? Was he now inside a horror story? If he kept backing up would he bump into a tree?

Still trudged along the path kicking tiny rocks whenever they appeared. He had thought he was in what he referred to as the top right corner of the forest, but now he wasn't sure. "How am I getting lost?" he said aloud to himself. "I've never gotten lost in the Everfree Forest! This is all that coin's fault." It had started to get darker. Darkness had never bothered Still, and he could always use his horn as a light source in case he needed to see better. Speaking of which, some dark objects appeared before him. They weren't rock or trees, but tents. "Is somepony camping out here?" He wondered.

Still couldn't help feeling a foreboding presence as he carefully moved through the woods. He kept telling himself it was just the cloudy weather making him nervous. Then something strange happened. Still looked left. He looked right. "Since when does the path split here?" he asked out loud. "Am I in the wrong part of the forest?" he wondered. "But I came in from the spot near my house. There's no way I could have gotten turned around that badly. Then again...I do keep thinking about those stupid clouds. Wouldn't be the first time I've zoned out this badly..." Shaking his head, Still went down the left path. If he somehow did end up in the opposite corner of the forest, then going left would put him back on track. At least he hoped.

Still was both delighted and somewhat disheartened when he got to the house. Whoever this guy was he had conveniently put up the exact information Still needed on his door. Of course this meant that there were no doubt other ponies out in the forest right now seeking the gem. Luckily for Still he knew the forest relatively well. The spot described on the paper sounded like an area of the forest where a couple of particular plants and flowers grew. It was an area Still visited frequently. Taking walks in the forest not only cleared his head, it was also a great place to gather plants to sell in town. Still decided to pick up the pace and darted towards the Everfree forest. Hopefully he'd manage to find this gem and get the reward first.

Still let out a groan of agony as he let his book fall onto the floor. "That is it! I am done with this series." He said aloud, despite being the only one in his house. He hated when a book series started off with promise but then spiraled down into mediocrity. Reading stories like that gave him such headaches that he called them soulaches. Still made his way outside, not bothering to pick the book up. Despite often being ignorant of the weather, Still couldn't help but notice how dark it was. He could have sworn it had been sunny just a few hours earlier when he woke up. It wasn't even noon yet; however it looked as if the sun had already set. Still shrugged it off. As long as it wasn't raining he didn't care. Although since it could start raining he decided to take his walk in town. Still would have rather gone into the forest as there was never anypony else in there. Thankfully it was sparse in town. The gloomy weather must have scared everypony else off. With no other ponies to peek at from the corner of his eyes, Still noticed an otherwise inconspicuous flier on one of the houses. He stopped and read it over carefully. "Lost gem...will be rewarded..." he muttered under his breath. “Interesting.” Back in his house, Still rummaged around in one his closets. He took out a slightly old looking box. The Everfree Forest did not bother Still like it did most of the ponies in Ponyville. Sure there were some dangerous creatures living in it, but if one was simply careful and quiet one would be left alone. His horn glowed a soft shade of yellow as he undid the magical seals on the box. Of course, having a few magical tricks like being able to turn yourself invisible for a few moments certainly made the forest feel less threatening. The box was full of bits. Still took one out with his mouth and gently threw it into the air. It fell on the floor with soft thud. He peered down, seeing that it had landed heads up. "Into the forest it is then," He said as he relocked and put the box away. Normally he wouldn't go out into the woods during dubious weather, but getting a lost and found reward certainly made it tempting. Fate had just spoken, and thus it was time to go searching. The town was still barren of other ponies as Still trotted towards the address on the flier. "Hopefully this dummy remembers where he was in there."