ThornFlare

I'll be posting soon, I've just been preoccupied with other things. Sorry I'm taking so long!

Serenity quickly lost sight of the other group as they set off down the trail. He didn't know how long the trail was, or how many obstacles there might be, so he tried to be ready. He was nearly lost in thought when Pat spoke. "Hello, I'm Pat! I think we met at the train station." It was good that they were starting a conversation, because then they didn't have to walk in awkward silence. "Hi! I did meet you two there, but I don't think we've ever talked to each other." He found himself struggling to find words to say. ​"So..how are you guys? Since I haven't really had the chance to talk to either of you I guess while we walk would be good wouldn't it?" He sometimes talked and talked and talked, and just didn't know when to shut up. He had just stated the obvious, and felt bad for it. He sighed in disappointment for himself before continuing. As they kept walking, he waited for a response and looked at the surroundings quickly. This seemed to be a denser part of the forest, and he couldn't see very far on either side. Above them was a thick canopy that let little light through. The feeling of dread was gone as soon as it came. Nothing bad will happen. Come on. He turned his attention back to Pat and River, hoping they weren't disliking him for his awkwardness. A bit of that showed on his face.

Serenity stood there for a second. So they were splitting up? He saw Blaze approach Rose and Spellbind, so that ruled any of them out. "So, who wants to come with River and I?" He heard that and looked over. He hadn't really talked to Pat or River at all, but they were the only ponies left to partner with. He began walking slowly towards them. "Um..hello. I guess with the others making a group, that means I'm with you two." He half smiled, hoping he wasn't coming off as rude. He had never been good with introductions. He looked at the paths back into the forest. Since they were splitting up, that meant there size and combat power would be reduced drastically, so hopefully they didn't run into any trouble. Just in case though, he pulled his sword, still in its scabbard, out of his bag and slung it over his back. That way, he could easily pull it out since it faced his mouth. He took the time to put on a sort of glove, that had a strap on it for the short-sword to fit into. That way his mouth would be free to talk and he could swing with his hoof. with everything assembled, he looked at Pat and River. "I'm all ready. Well, as ready as I can be." He did another sort of half grin, although it was more genuine this time. He didn't want to sound bossy by saying to go, so he sat and waited for Pat and River to respond.

Serenity had stood dumbfounded at this whole conversation, and had put away his sword much to his own relief. He stood there continuing to listen to the ogre talk. He was caught of guard when Unger asked the remaining members of the group to introduce themselves. Oh snap, that means me. Come on, you can do this... He slowly walked forward to speak. "Um, hello, my name is Serenity. Nice to meet you." He has been shaking a bit the whole time. He had never met an ogre up close, and never heard of a friendly one. "I hope we can get along" He smiled as he backed up near Dax again. As he walked he thought about some of the things in his bag that he could tinker with. Just messing around with an object, trying to improve it calmed him down. He started flying low as he rummaged through his bags, and found an amulet that he was going to give to a friend for her birthday, which was in a few months. It has several runes engraved on it, older runes that would help her. He put it back, hoping nopony had noticed it. He saw some materials he could use later. He strapped his bags back on, landed, and kept walking.

I'm really liking how it went with the ogre. That was completely unexpected for me. Really enjoying this!

The loud thumps worried Serenity. If there was something ahead of them...he shuddered at how big it must be to be felling trees like that. Ignoring the fact that he was uncomfortable being seen with his short sword, as not many ponies knew he carried one, he took it out and gripped it tightly. This was a situation where it might actually be useful. But what could he do with it? He hardly ever used it. Shaking that though aside, he stared at the path ahead. The thumps were growing ever closer. One of the few things that were comforting him at this point what the fact he seemed to of made up with Dax, who walked next to him. "Please don't be anything, please oh please be harmless..." He mumbled to himself. He seemed to do that a lot. Deep inside he knew it was a remote chance that something that was potentially huge was harmless. He gripped onto that notion of hope though, but was still prepared to fight if needed. At this point he didn't have the time to get anything from his bag that might help, because they were almost to the first felled tree.

Geez, he hadn't realized how pushy he seemed, and he hated being pushy. "Sorry if I was pushy, I didn't mean to. I was just concerned and wanted to make things up. Sorry about that." Well, thank Celestia that's over, I was afraid he would stay mad at me. He was hoping now that it had been settled for good and they could go back to walking and talking. He felt really bad for being pushy, he normally wasn't like that. His shame showed a bit on his face. Also, the Everfree forest loomed closer then ever. It was still as creepy as it was when he was a foal. So he took up on Dax's request. "Have you ever been to the Everfree forest? I have a few times as a foal with my friends, although we only ever stayed near the outside. That was before one of them got struck with her afflict-" He stopped himself there for a second. Her affliction was one of the last things he wanted to talk about, mainly by her request. They didn't want word of it spreading around."Well, erm...ya. We played random things on our day trips to Ponyville near the forest. Good times. So what about you, have you ever been there, or is this a first?" Relief washed over him. It looked like he had finally made things up with Dax, and that made him happier then he had felt in a while.

"I just... I need to save my strength. Just... just let me be for a bit. I'll be fine. Honest. We'll... talk later." "Yeah, sure", and that single sentence is all he had gotten out of Dax. That's it. It wasn't the fact that he was sulking around that frustrated him, it was that he was trying to mend what he had said, and all he could say was "Yeah, sure". He was hesitant to approach him again. What if Dax told him to just go away? Or yelled at him? There was any number of things that could go wrong. Also the pained smile on his face. It was brief, but showed a lot of emotion. He had only a few friends as a foal. And whenever one got mad at him, he went out of his way to try and fix the problem. Although it could go wrong, he had to approach him one last time. He just couldn't give up here and let Dax sulk about about whatever was on his mind. He was on a team, where was that stoic stallion from before? He decided that if this time he was told to go away again, he would. He usually tried once, tried twice, then left it for a bit. That applied now too. He flew over to Dax one more time. "Look Dax, I don't know what you're so upset about. And I can't just leave somepony who's upset or angry about something I said sulk. I've said before I'm sorry, but Its painful to have people mad at me, especially ponies who I've gotten off on a good hoof with. If you really want to be left alone, I'll go. But I didn't have many friends as a foal, and I always worked to mend relations with them, and I hope I can mend this with you too. Don't mistake me for being pushy, I just want to help." He sighed. "I really hope we can go back to talking like we were earlier Dax. But we can't do that until you stop sulking about whatever it is your thinking about, and get it out of your head for the good of everypony here."

Serenity stood there in shock for a second before flying after Dax. Darn it, I knew​ I shouldn't of asked that. Hopefully he's not that mad at me. He skidded to a near stop next to Dax. Now he had to talk to him. Not easy when they were potentially angry with you. "Listen...Dax...I don't know what it was that made you run, but I'm...I'm sorry. I guess I was just trying to make you feel more ate ease because you looked like you felt nervous. I'm not the best with words, so I was afraid I'd mess up...and I did. So whatever I said, I truly am sorry, and I won't bring it up again." It was even more awkward when he said it rather then simply thinking of what he wanted to say. He always felt the need to at least say something when a conversation or something else went wrong. He couldn't just leave Dax over there without saying anything to him or apologizing. So he had. He sighed. He hated when this stuff happened. He looked at Dax again. "I know your angry at me or something...but we can still be friends, right?" He smiled slightly. "I hope that what I said can still be repaired."

Serenity listened to Dax as he spoke about his job, and how he got his cutie mark from it. Serenity however gave him a quizzical look. From his work, he had at least learned to see when somepony was dodging a question, such as several ponies who had tried to dodge the question of why they needed an item repaired, or how it broke. Usually it was trivial reasons, such as "I didn't want so and so to know I broke this" or they were just embarrassed. Serenity stared at him for a few seconds longer before giving up the look. It wont help to just keep staring at him. "So, uhm...I'll bet with all that skill you have, you've made some interesting things - how about I ask what you're most proud of making?" ​Yep, he was definitely hiding something. Won't hurt to answer though. 'What am I most proud of? These bags that I'm using. They've got a dozen or so modifications to make it easier for me to either access them, make them stay on, hold more things, ect." ​And now to ask him something. This would be...awkward to say the least. He didn't like prying, but asking wouldn't hurt. If he avoided again he would give up and leave the subject, but he didn't like it when people hid things from him either. "You know...I know when somepony is dodging a question, and I feel weird when ponies hide things from me. I guess that's just my natural curiosity as work, but still. If you really don't want to tell me, I'll drop the subject. But we are a team here, there's really no need to hide things from us." That had been...unusually blunt of him. "However, I am sorry if I'm prying. As I said, if you don't want to talk about it that bad, I'll drop it." I guess that I'm just trying to make him feel more at ease around us. He seems nervous. Also, theres just no need to hide things here. Who knows? It may be useful in the future. Finished the apple, he set himself back onto the ground and waited for Dax's response.

I'm... well, I'm here, aren't I? I felt the need to help out, so I offered to do just that. After all, my... job... taught me quite a bit about gems and such, so I figured this would be a learning experience as well. I don't get too much time away from the work." He had a job? Well, work experience is always good. And you don't really find many people who work with gems. He listened as Dax continued on. "Anyway, the whole Night Guide thing is actually only because I know my stars, to be honest. Otherwise, I don't think I'll be of much help; I'll try, though. But I thank you for asking. I was kind of wondering if you might be able to... create?... something to make the journey a bit easier for our wheeled teammate up there?" He saw Dax motion towards river."The easier we can make this trip for her, the better we can make it for Pat, right?" He thought about that for a few seconds. Knowing his stars was still good, because it didn't seem like anypony else did. And making something to ease the journey for River? The wheels seemed fine, its just those would have a tough time going over rough terrain. I guess we could make ramps whenever the occasion arises, but there's not much else I can really do. He saw Dax reach into his bags and take out an apple. "Would you like an apple? They're fresh." "Sure! I haven't eaten since this morning. Thanks." He lifted himself slightly off the ground, matching his flying pace with Dax's walking pace. It was much easier to fly and eat then to walk and eat. He'd stop flying though once they reached the Everfree forest. It could get nearly impossible to fly in there because of the low branches. He took the apple and took a bite. It was really good, fresh apples were always the best. "And in regard to your question about River...I don't think there is really anything I can do that hasn't already been done for River. The wheels themselves should be enough for most of the journey. I guess I could repair them if they break, or we could make ramps over difficult terrain, but that's about it." As he finished the sentence he felt a slight dissatisfaction in himself. He should be able to work around these. He quickly kicked out the feeling. It was just one he got whenever he felt like he could't help or do something. But in this case the help had already been given. "So, you said you had a job before? Mine was just going around and repairing things. Mind telling me what yours was?" He took another bite of the apple as he waited for Dax to respond.

He had been lost in his own thoughts when Dax approached him. He jumped slightly when he began speaking. "So, you're the 'engineer', so to speak? I'm glad to hear that - we might be more in need of your skills than the others realize. I'm Dax... but I think we already covered that earlier. Anyway, I was wondering if you had everything you needed, or should we stop for supplies? After all, you'd know better than I would... right?" ​Well, at least it hadn't taken long for someone to approach him. He smiled slightly, being a bit nervous and all. Dax sounded a little nervous as well because he trailed off, but more confident then he was. He frequently did that if he was nervous. "I..I wouldn't say engineer, more of just a repairman. There a few things that I can make from scratch, but none are very complicated. I'm working on that though" He got a bit more comfortable speaking, because it was just to one pony. "And I'm good on supplies until we reach another town." He smiled. "So if you need anything repaired, just come ask me. But besides that, I heard you were our night guide? That's handy, because we don't have to stop immediately as the sun sets, or if we need to travel somewhere at night. But anyway, how are you? Its going to be a while before we stop, so might as well talk a bit." He grimaced a little. Most awkward way to start a conversation ever.

Once Destiny had finished her speech, Serenity stood there for a minute. They were heading into the Everfree forest, so at least he now had an idea of which direction they were heading. And they were using a buddy system? Well, it made sense for this journey, and if he couldn't put trust in the leader to make decisions, what else could he do? The only downside was now he couldn't restock until they reached a town, but that was fine. He still had plenty supplies left. If anything breaks I just hope I'll have the stuff to fix it, if I even know how. Who knows what could break on this journey. ​Destiny began walking, taking the lead in front of the group. He began walking too. No use tiring my wings now, might need them later. Plus, I can just switch between walking and flying when my legs or wings get tired. But he needed a partner if they were doing the buddy system. Some ponies were already grouping up, but he didn't want to approach anypony, being the shy pony he is. ​I guess I'll just walk and wait for some pony to come to me then. He walked near the back of the group, waiting for a pony to offer to group up. Because he sure wasn't going to approach them.

The train rolled to a stop. It had been an interesting ride to say the least. Well, more interesting then any of his other train rides. He had to fix something, and managed to talk to the leader of the team. Over all not bad. He flung his bags over his back and waited till he heard a click. That click was so he knew the magnets underneath were attached, so his bags didn't fall off while flying. He stepped on to the platform of the station. He had been here many times, as his towns only source of transportation was a road connecting to here. From Ponyville they then took the train to wherever they were going. Oh, thats right, I should probably by some more materials here. When repairing Destiny's bow he had realized that he was short on some materials. It had been a while since he had restocked. I should do that as soon as I can so I don't forget.​ He really thought that they could do this. Just that train ride had brought them one step closer to their destination and objective. Thinking in little steps really helped. That's what he did for large projects. Fix it one small piece at a time so it wasn't overwhelming. If he thought like that for this adventure, it didn't seem as daunting a task. Just one step at a time.