FoE RPG G0 - #026 Clouded Judgement

19:30<SpiritOfFate>	Group 0: *Epitaph, - Session #26 starts now
19:30<SpiritOfFate>	===================================
19:35<SpiritOfFate>	"Nnoto Lebadi is correct. You may find us at this frequency at midnight, but we will be watching for any suspicious signals chiming in." The authoritarian mare says to Royal_Lace. Then the radio goes silent again.
19:36*	Royal_Lace swollows, she didnt like the prospect of going into a possibly monster infested forest, but this seemed like the best chance of getting the mud ponies trust. "Understood, Lace and company sighning off", turning she looks around the room at her companions, "so.... how do you think that went?"
19:38*	Wintergreen scratches her head, frowning. "Could have gone better... but it's a start."
19:40<SpiritOfFate>	----
19:46<SpiritOfFate>	The group starts to wake up with the sun shining into their windows. They hear birds singing and the faint sound of the forest creeping closer
19:48*	Hawkeye nuzzles Buck, and rolls out of the bed to put her gear on. There's a lot to do today, and a lot could get in their way. Better to get up and get going than worry about it! The charcoal mare quickly dons her hat and eyepatch, then her armor, and slings her rifle over her shoulder.
19:49*	Ignis can feel his old feelings vaulting back as he wakes up...in his usual draconian complexion, a sly grin crepting around his face, eyes shut as he realizes it...he is no longer a concealed facade...even if he'd need to be covered into bandages, it was nice to have the feeling of his own fire within his body. The dragon kicks the sheets aside and begins to gear up himself.
19:50*	Royal_Lace finishes packing as she carfully slides her precious spell book into her saddle bags.
19:50*	Sotho  stretches as he gets up from his bed and smiles, looking towards the new day
19:51<SpiritOfFate>	Buck stretches and hops out of bed, happy to be woken up so gently for a change. He smiles to Hawkeye. "How did it go with the mudponies?"
19:53*	Hawkeye sighs. "Oh, Ah just about blew our chances out of the water," she admits. "Didn't know who Ah was talkin' to, an' said some things Ah didn't mean to. Just about got all four of muh hooves in muh mouth at the same time." Hawkeye shakes her head as she checks her rifle over. "But Lace smoothed it over real nice. Last Ah checked, we was going to be workin' with them, and Firefly's helpin....
19:53*	Hawkeye ...Should be okay."
19:53*	Wintergreen wakes up as Ignis hops off of the bed. She smiles to the dragon, greeting him with a sleepy, "Morning~" Following his lead, she begins to saddle up.
19:54<SpiritOfFate>	The bundle of sheets which contains Knick Knack moves slightly as she sleeps.
19:55*	Ignis does an "amused alors' vours" gesture with his claw, rummaging through his gear and dressing himself on the armor. "Big day today, huh?" He speaks, inspecting the weapons of his. "I hope we get to have some gunslinging today..."
19:57*	Wintergreen nods, placing her energy pistol in her holster. "Well, I'd rather we get through the day without 'gun-slinging', honestly." She trots over to his side, nuzzling his cheek. "But we'll see. Hopefully we can get a few steps closer to Firefly's parents."
19:58<SpiritOfFate>	Buck frowns slightly. "Mudponies were always skittish anyway, it's a surprise they listened. They just help ponies when they want to."
19:59*	Ignis is strapped with his usual duo of revolvers. "yeah, about that...we should definately make a number on the slavehunter BEFORE going on the search..."
19:59*	Royal_Lace sits next to the sleeping ball of blankets that is Nick Nack and gives her a light shake, "Miss Nack? Nick Nack, its Lace"
20:00<Hawkeye>	"That Royal Lace has a silver tongue, what can y'say?" Hawkeye says. "Maybe they realize we can help 'em just as much as they can help us." Satisfied, she slings the rifle over her shoulder again. "We'd better get some chow an' get going. Just in case folks start wising up to who all y'all are."
20:02*	Wintergreen nods. "I guess that'd be best..." She finishes strapping into her metal armor, fidgeting slightly. "This isn't made for comfort, is it..." She pokes a bit of pointy metal with a hoof.
20:02*	Firefly turns away from the light and continues to snore. Filly be tired.
20:04*	Sotho looks to the filly and chuckles, moving and poking her lightly. "Firefly, it's time to wake up. Good heroes wake up early."
20:04*	Ignis nods in silence, though a faint smile can be seen...he's set. "Even that, I figure we should go on the "magical roids' forest" quest before eveything else...that one has fishy written all around."
20:05<SpiritOfFate>	Knick Knack turns to the side. "...you *yawn* clean later, Flannel..."
20:05*	Firefly sits up and the poking. "I'm awake! I'm the bestest hero!"
20:06<SpiritOfFate>	Buck follows Hawkeye. "Good plan."
20:06*	Royal_Lace stiffles a chuckle, the remark almost comically cute. "No miss Nack, your not home. Your here in our room ... I need to ask you a very serious question before breakfast"
20:06*	Sotho laughs a bit and nods. "You sure are!" He pats the fillies head. "Let's both go find out what the others talked about last night. I wask inda focused on Ties. He has a body now!"
20:07*	Hawkeye leads Buck back downstairs, to wait for everyone else, and hopefully snag a quick breakfast so the majority of the morning isn't spent cooking and eating like it seems to usually be.
20:07*	Wintergreen bumps her hip to Ignis'. "Let's get moving then." She flashes him a small smile.
20:07<SpiritOfFate>	"Bwuh?" She sits on the bed and rubs her eyes, looking at Royal_Lace. "Oh. Question?"
20:08<Firefly>	Firefly's eyes widen in surprise. "Ooooh, really? Is it nifty?"
20:08*	Ignis childishly shows his tongue to Wintergreen and bumps her side with his own body as he moves off to her side. "Yup, at this rate everypony else already took the best bites off the breakfast."
20:09<Royal_Lace>	
ACTION nods, "Yes Miss Nack, I know its early but me and my friends found out a few things last night about Fireflys parents and... well, long story short we have to travel to meet with some zebras in the forest. Now I brought you here to take you away from your father, and Im sure that you would be fine company as we travel, but its up to you if you want to come with us. It may be dangerous, but we have the other ponies to help protect us if
20:10*	Sotho nods. "Yeah it sure is Firefly! You'll see it sometime." He chuckles as he starts to head downstairs. "Let's get going."
20:10*	Royal_Lace smiles, "I just want you to be happy and safe, and your an adult so the choice is yourse... stay here with the caps left in the safe till I come back, which I dont know how long it will be. Or come with me and my friends"
20:10*	Wintergreen trots out of the room, then heads towards the dining room.
20:11*	Firefly jumps out of the bed and starts to fly downstairs. She pauses, and then goes back to make her bed. She grabs her things, even brushes her teeth!
20:11<Royal_Lace>	( we get into trouble" < from the cut on the first line)
20:12*	Sotho smiles at the fillies attitude with waking up, he wishes he could have that style of morning routine. He makes his way downstairs behind her, with his things
20:13*	Ignis waves off to everypony. "Morning, early birdies." He smiles, the draconian features suiting him well...to have recovered those did much to his enthusiasm
20:13*	Wintergreen waves to Sotho and Firefly, catching them on their way down. "Morning, you two." She smiles to her favorite filly. "And how is the batmare this morning?"
20:13*	Hawkeye waves at the others as they begin filing into the dining room. The charcoal mare is already obviously ready to go.
20:14<SpiritOfFate>	Knick Knack shrinks a bit, picking her sheets. "Dangerous forest? Uh..." She looks around to the room, now empty except for the two mares. "...are you going too?"
20:14<Firefly>	It doesn't take Firefly long to finish up. She ends by packing up the radio and putting it in her saddle bags. Soon, she is downstairs with the others. "Ready to go beat up bad ponies!" Firefly grins and giggles, and then starts into her exercises.
20:15*	Sotho chuckles a bit as he does some stretching as well, waving to the ponies downstairs. "I believe we have some leftovers for breakfest. I would prepare something but i'm afraid of using the remainder of our rations.
20:15*	Royal_Lace smiles, as she sits next to Nick Nack, "Yes, I will be going as well... and im sure allot of the other ponies would be glad to have you allong, they have been warming up to you, you know. And if you do come you know I can get us out of trouble in a blink of an eye"
20:16*	Ignis takes a little whiff. "Is it just me, or that forest is making another move for it? Sure smells like... even with the flamethrower teams working overtime, the town will be engulfed sooner or later if the growth isn't driven down...damn southern flora."
20:17*	Firefly nods, doing wing-ups while wearing her saddle bags and a new cloak. "Oh! I made some cloaks yesterday. They should keep the rain off anypony."
20:17<Hawkeye>	"Better to save them rations in case we get stuck somewhere for a bit, Stripes," Hawkeye says. "We got a lot of mouths to feed, and it's better to save the prepared stuff for emergencies, yeah?"
20:17*	Wintergreen sits at the table across from Knick Knack. "Good Morning Royal_Lace." She glances at Knick Knack, still a bit uneasy around her former captor. "And to you as well, Knack."
20:18<Sotho>	"What information did we recieve last night?" He asks, nodding to Hawkeye and smiling. "I'll do my best to keep others away from snacking
20:19<SpiritOfFate>	Knick Knack nods weakly to Royal_Lace. "O-okay."
20:20*	Firefly looks up at Sotho. "Awe...but Snack Time is best Time. Well, unless you count Nap Time."
20:20*	Royal_Lace smiles, "alright, well then lets go and join the others for breakfast then, alright?". Lace gently helps Nick Nack up and the two of them then go to the table where wintergreen said good morning to them. "And a fine good morning to you miss Green, how did you sleep?"
20:21<Sotho>	"Snacking too much can make you slow, and slow is almost always bad in battle." He says to Firefly.
20:21<Hawkeye>	"The Mudponies need us to stop the slavers' robots from pinning them down, and get some tribe off their back so they can help us," Hawkeye explains. "Ah was takin' to you, so Ah wasn't rightly paying much attention." She chuckles. "If Ah was half the diplomat that Ah am a scout..."
20:21<Sotho>	"Tribe?"
20:21*	Firefly frowns. "But they're tasty."
20:22*	Ignis shakes his head. "Didn't the doc told us that the slavecatcher was a tech-nut? If things add up, I wouldn't be surprised if he's the one behind setting over the mechano-artillery, or associated with the ones doing so."
20:22<Sotho>	"But isn't it more tasty when you've had to wait for it?"
20:22*	Royal_Lace nods to sotho, "Yes, zebras actually.... now what were they called, oh yes, the Nnoto Lemadi! Hunters actually, working with the slavers in exchange for precious stones and pearls".
20:22<SpiritOfFate>	Knick Knack waves weakly to Wintergreen, still a bit afraid
20:23<SpiritOfFate>	Buck takes a portion of the leftovers to eat.
20:23*	Firefly thinks for a moment. "I suppose..." The filly seems unsure about this entire 'waiting before snacking' thing.
20:23<SpiritOfFate>	Sotho has heard of this tribe before (PM incoming)
20:23*	Royal_Lace nibbles at some of the leftovers
20:24*	Hawkeye frowns. "A tribe of hunters or something," she says. "Didn't catch what their deal was with the griffons. But we gotta talk 'em out of it. Can't say Ah'll be very much help there. Muh speciality is usually our last resort." She ruffles Firefly's mane. "Ah'm sure we can find somethin' to eat along the way, half-pint. It's not like we're carnivores, after all."
20:24*	Wintergreen smiles. "Well, thanks Lace. And you?"
20:24*	Firefly finishes her wing-ups, and starts to stretch. "What's a carnivore?"
20:25*	Ignis takes a dip off from the food and gives it a sugestive chew, swallowing the mostly intact food. "So, we're off to where, exactly?"
20:25<Hawkeye>	"Folks that just eat meat," Hawkeye explains. "Like a griffon, sweetheart. Ponies can eat just about anything, though we're s'posed to eat mostly plants."
20:25*	Royal_Lace smiles, "Well thank you, and I have a bit of good news. Our Friend Nick Nack here will be coming with us... Firefly, dont we have an extra leather cloak? Somthing for her to where while we travel?"
20:26*	Royal_Lace looks to Ignis, "Into the forest nearby, where the Nnoto Lemadi live"
20:26*	Firefly nods. "Oh, ok." She finishes her stretches before digging through her saddle bags. She pulls out three leather cloaks, setting them on the table. "These are all of them."
20:26*	Wintergreen adds, "Royal_Lace, I actually have an extra set up scrap armor, if she has nothing better to wear."
20:27*	Sotho 's face starts to turn pale. "N-nnoto Lemadi.." He reverts to using his zebra tongue, something he hasn't done at all in their company, seemingly panicking as he speaks.
20:27*	Ignis grumbles a bit. "Personally, I wouldn't bother eating any wild plants of this southern warmhole...with the way they grow like a pack of radhogs in heat, that's only bound to do ill."
20:28*	Royal_Lace smiles, "How about that miss Nick nack, something to help keep you safe?".
20:29*	Hawkeye is taken aback, then grabs Sotho's shoulders. "Hey, HAY! Calm your stripes! You'll scare the filly!" she says, in truth a little frightened by Sotho's blatant panic. "What's the big deal 'bout these Noto lemadis?"
20:29*	Firefly looks up at Sotho. "And why are you talking funny?"
20:29*	Royal_Lace face is filled with worry as well
20:30*	Ignis blinks and tilt his head over to Sotho . "Yup, what's the thing with those "not-lemonades" ?"
20:32*	Sotho takes a few breaths. "B-bobe, I-I mean evil... Their tribe is known for making terrible deals with dark spirits. They are very strong warriors because of this. They are known by the black stripes that spiral into their hearts, which when their deal is up, becomes a sword that strikes through and kills them..."
20:33<Sotho>	"T-they are terrifying... Many tribes had to band together to drive them off their cursed land..."
20:33*	Royal_Lace blinks, not sure what to make of sothos words, "Oh... my..."
20:34*	Firefly cocks her head up at Sotho. "So, they're bad zebra?"
20:34*	Sotho has to cringe at Firefly's use of the word zebra in this case. "They cannot even be called zebra, or ponies, or anything besides hateful beings who only want to fight."
20:35*	Hawkeye scowls. "Ah bet Ah'd see a cloud o' bad news hanging over their heads like a thundercloud," she says, tapping her eyepatch. "Sounds like they're a heap of trouble. And a trouble best solved by bullets." She nudges her gun.
20:35<Sotho>	"They are the worst type of evil." He starts muttering under his breath in zebra again.
20:35*	Ignis raises an eyebrow. "So, voodoo-dwelling spiriteaters of sorts?"
20:35*	Firefly scratches her head. "Well...if they're bad, then we are supposed to beat them up. But if they want to fight..." The filly scrunches her muzzle as she thinks REALLY hard about it. "...then we hug them!"
20:37*	Sotho looks to Firefly, terror and concern for the filly. "No! I am sorry Firefly, but they are much worse than anything we've seen.  They don't fight because they need to, they fight because it entertains them, they would participate in fights over a simple rock to the death just to have fun."
20:38<Hawkeye>	"So, shoot them in the head, from a half-mile away," Hawkeye confirms. "Right. Ah'll keep that in mind. Now, are we goin' after them plants first, the robots, or this creepy demon zebra tribe?"
20:39*	Wintergreen fidgets, not liking the sound of this at all.
20:39*	Royal_Lace clears her throat, "well is it possible that they have changed? you said they were drivven out so this all must be old information... when was the last time your people have seen or heard of these zebras?"
20:40<SpiritOfFate>	Knick Knack has already shrunk to her sheets again.
20:40*	ignis darts his slanted eyes all over. "I'd vote for the plants before everything else..."
20:40*	Firefly looks up at Sotho, confused. "But...are they hurting anyone? Cause then they are bad ponies, and we have to stop them."
20:41<SpiritOfFate>	Buck has already finished eating.
20:42*	Wintergreen continues to nibble at her food, trying to get her mind off of the evil zebras.
20:42<Sotho>	"I-It has been a very long time. Since we've seen a Nnoto. But they sold their souls to evil spirits, and would teach their foals to do the same. So if this is the same tribe, they have no doubt kept the tradition. If it's somepony else, a group pretending to be them, then they are evil in their own right as well."
20:43*	Sotho takes a deep calming breath. "It does strike me as odd why they would want precious stones. I personally would figure the evil spirits would be sated with having their souls."
20:44*	Royal_Lace nods, "Alright... well then we proseed with caution. and yes I agree, your story dosent seem to mesh with there current MO... but we will never solv any of our troubles over leftovers. Is everypony ready to go?"
20:44*	ignis shrugs. "Who knows? maybe they are trying to build their rep with other kinds of spirits..."
20:44*	Hawkeye snorts. "Look, Ah ain't one to judge right or wrong. If we go talk to them, Ah ain't coming down to talk to 'em with you. Ah'll be up in a nice cozy place with my scope trained on 'em." She looks at Wintergreen. "Some folk don't want nothing else but to give everypony else a bad time, and y'can't stop everything just by makin' friends and playin' nice." The charcoal sniper sighs. "Ah'll be...
20:44*	Hawkeye ...here as Plan B, no matter what y'all decide to do, but my vote's for plants." She raises a hoof at Lace's question. "Ah'm all ready."
20:45*	Sotho nods. "The Flora sounds more urgent as it is now. The tribe, as evil as they are, can wait. We would need to plan wisely against them."
20:47*	Firefly hops into a chair and starts to eat. "I just want to check the store with that nice Mrs. Griffin in it. I forgot to look inside for anything Daring Do."
20:47*	Royal_Lace sighs, "well all these problems are in the forest so either way we are heading there, the sooner the better"
20:51*	Sotho nods a bit
20:52*	Wintergreen disagrees with Hawkeye, shaking her head. "If you can make friends with them, you can solve the problem. And you can make friends with anypony if you know how..."
20:53*	Royal_Lace looks around the table, "and speaking of... for those ponies I havent talked to about it, I think its a good idea we fly"
20:53<Sotho>	"I would not want to be friends with a Nnoto." He looks to Royal_Lace. "Fly?"
20:54*	Hawkeye gives Wintergreen a sideways look, eyebrow raised. "Sure, hun, but if the way to make friends with them zebras is to sell your soul to a creepy spirit an' participate in blood rituals? Ah ain't doin' that just to be their friends. No way, no how." She pushes her hat down. "Some folks just ain't worth being friends with."
20:54*	Royal_Lace nods, "Yes, fly"
20:55*	ignis nods. "Its pretty hard to be buddies with friends once they try to eat your soul out..."
20:55<Sotho>	"How. only a few of us have wings, and I haven't seen any bloodwings on the way here, so unfortunately I can't make a potion for it."
20:56<ignis>	"Which makes me wonder....how do souls taste like? Sotho, be sure to ask one of those evil spirits about it."
20:56*	Firefly ignores the conversation until Royal_Lace mentions flight. She swallows her food and looks over. "Ooooh, are you gonna grow pretty wings and fly?"
20:57*	ignis agora se chama Ignis
20:57*	Sotho twitches and scowls, looking at Ignis with terrible anger. "HOW DARE YOU! TO THINK I WOULD SPEAK WITH A DARK SPIRIT!"
20:57*	Royal_Lace sparks her horn and grins at sotho, "I can handle that, all we need is for Firefly to make us a nice cloudbank to sit on". Turning to firely she smiles, "No, not quite. but I think youll like this as well"
20:58*	Ignis shrugs, returning his gaze right at the zebra. "You did some small chat with that mr-tentacles there, of that I'm sure...wouldn't be too much of a burden to at least ask...you know."
20:58*	Wintergreen huffs. "Well, when we get to that point we'll see, Hawkeye. But I'll continue to try and makes friends until they try and hurt us."  She blinks, looking to Sotho.
20:59*	Hawkeye winces at the outburst, then narrows her eye. "Sotho. Ah think y'all need to step back a second and take a deep breath. Just 'cause these zebras scare the stripes off you, ain't no reason to shout at your friends." She looks at Ignis. "Ah can see spirits too. Ah'll talk to 'em if we see any. Ah just ain't making any deals."
21:00<Ignis>	"Just because they are bent into darkness, that doesn't mean we can't learn from them in some ways...they are just like people, only paler."
21:00*	Hawkeye turns to Wintergreen, and her hard glance softens. "As y'all should, hun. If y'can make friends, that's the first option. Ah just don't want you wanderin' in some place that's not as friendly as y'all think, and gettin' hurt." She pats Wintergreen's shoulder. "Ah just found y'all, and Ah ain't keen on losing ya so soon."
21:00*	Firefly jumps back at the outburst, hovering in mid-air. She isn't sure what to do...
21:01*	Wintergreen nods in resignation, seeing more logic to Hawkeye's viewpoint. "Very well," she concedes, smiling. "Thanks. Don't plan on losing you any time soon, either."
21:02*	Sotho grits his teeth and takes a few breaths. "I-I am sorry. There is much wrong with even speaking to an evil spirit in my lore, I only did so before to try and save you all, to chase him away. I would prefer if you not ask me to speak with any of them." He looks at Ignis. "I Apologize."
21:02*	Ignis waves dismissively. "Its nothing, Sotho...I'm the one who should apologize, I didn't knew it was a taboo among your tribe."
21:03*	Hawkeye nudges Sotho. "It's all right, Stripes. Like Ah said, we're your friends. Friends forgive dumb things y'say." She chuckles. "If y'all don't want to talk to 'em, Ah will, since Ah can see 'em and all. Ah cain't make deals with 'em, so Ah should be safe, right?"
21:04*	Ignis leans back a bit. "Even still...I have the feeling you'll need to talk to them at some point or another...that was no usual spirit, he was stalking you, right?"
21:05<Sotho>	"I... would not say that." He says to Hawkeye. "From what I know, they are very... coniving? they will trick you into deals, even if you aren't a zebra or a shaman." He looks to Ignis. "Y-yes... I believe he was. Firefly I believe has seen him before as well."
21:05*	Royal_Lace waits for the conversation to finish so they can move on
21:05<Sotho>	"But we can talk about this as we walk. Shall we be off?"
21:05*	Firefly settles down, now that things look a bit calmer. "Miss Lace, I thought other ponies couldn't play with clouds." She looks over at Sotho. "You mean that spooky scary princess? Yeah, she is scary!"
21:06*	Hawkeye gets up from the table. "Welp, let's get a move on, then." She nods to Buck. "You comin' too, Sugarcube? Or do y'have something else helpful to do?"
21:07*	Royal_Lace nods to Firefly, "your right dear but i know a spell that will lets us do just that for a short while"
21:07*	Ignis raises from his seat. "Off to turn a forest into cinders...indeed, it smells like a big day to me."
21:08<SpiritOfFate>	"I'll come along. I dunno about spirits and curses, but I can help you some against these zebra." He gets up as well
21:09*	Royal_Lace smiles, "Alright, so then I suppose me and Firefly will get things ready, if we all want to head outside we can be on our way in no time. Please make sure you have your belongings ponies!"
21:09*	Sotho tilts his head slightly before nodding
21:09<Hawkeye>	"An' keep your tray tables in the full upright an' locked position," Hawkeye mutters. "Ah said Ah'm ready. Let's git." She pushes open the door and steps outside.
21:10*	Ignis gives a few steps. "Eh, who was the one hoofing out cloaks?"
21:10<SpiritOfFate>	Knick Knack looks up to Royal_Lace, nervous and a bit confused
21:10*	Wintergreen sits up, making her way over to nudge Knick Knack. "If you're going to come along, you need to be protected. Now, I have a set of spare armor. Would you like it?"
21:10*	Firefly nods to Royal_Lace. "Ok!" She starts to fly over to the Everywhere Emporium and gets called back by Royal_Lace. She looks torn between the two, and then looks over at Wintergreen. "Miss Green! Can you look and see if the nice griffin has any Daring Do stuff?" The filly pulls a bag of caps out of her saddle bags and holds it in her mouth, making filly eyes at the foal sitter. "Pweeese?"
21:10<SpiritOfFate>	Knick Knack hops, startled. "Ah! Oh, sure."
21:11*	Royal_Lace gives Nick Nack a reasuring look and a hug, "Dont worry nick nack, go ahead and pick out something to wear, its just as a percaustion. Were going to be flying over the forest at first so we should be fairly safe, I hope. Just know we will all work to keep each other safe"
21:13*	Wintergreen takes a moment to retrieve a set of sports armor from her saddle bags, hoofing it over to Knick Knack. She nods to Firefly, unable to resist the filly eyes. "Of course." She takes the caps, depositing them into safety within her saddle. She nuzzles Firefly. "I'll be back. With Daring Doo herself," she teases.
21:14*	Firefly does a happy pirouette in mid-air. "Yay for Daring Do!"
21:14*	Sotho smiles a bit at Firefly before looking around. "Will anypony be in need of my assistance?"
21:15*	Wintergreen trots to Royal_Lace's side, whispering, "Hey, Lace, do you think you could step out with me? Perhaps transform me into Daring Doo with that spell of yours?" She points over to Firefly. "I mean, look at the adorable filly, how could you resist!"
21:16*	Hawkeye and Buck wait outside for the others to finish gearing up.
21:16*	Royal_Lace nods, "Sure, i can give it a try" she says with a smile and folows wintergreen"
21:17*	Ignis refrains from commenting he'd gladly put on a leash and would allow himself to be towed by the master explorer.
21:18*	Sotho follows Hawkeye and Buck, waiting patiently since nothing seemed to demand his attention, still muttering very quietly in zebra every so often
21:18*	Firefly starts to fly up and gather clouds from Royal_Lace, happy at the possibility of Daring Do.
21:20*	Wintergreen makes her way towards the store, stopping at its front and looking to Lace. "So," she asks, "can you manage the spell?"
21:21*	Hawkeye tolerates this for a few minutes, then sighs. "Sotho... dwelling on them Nodo Lombardis won't make your day any better, and your mutterin' is startin' to get a bit on the grating side," she says. "If y'want to talk about it, let's hear it, otherwise speak a language we all know, alright?"
21:22*	Ignis pffts, shaking his scaley head as he walks by, his stuffbags swinging lightly with his gear. "Must be a zebra thing..."
21:23*	Royal_Lace smiles, "I think I can manage that, but lets do it after our shoping"
21:23<Sotho>	"I'm sorry." He smiles a bit. "I'll stop, it's just a simple prayer to keep evil spirits at bay. I was making sure that they should not interfer with our quest." He nods. "I will speak in the language you all can as well." He chuckles a bit, his light hearted nature returning
21:24*	Wintergreen makes her way into the store, looking around for Daring Doo items. She moves quickly, not wanting Lace's spell to end before she sees Firefly.
21:24<SpiritOfFate>	Knick Knack shows up in sports armor with a blanket around her, almost like a cloak. She shyly makes her way to Royal_Lace and sits by her side.
21:24<SpiritOfFate>	---
21:26*	Royal_Lace smiles as she watches Firefly finish her work, sitting next to the blanket covered Nick Nack.
21:27<SpiritOfFate>	Time passes. The overcast sky moves outside, almost like the Equestrian skies, except for the spots here and there where the light shines through. Outside the flamer mare gets back at her work, pushing the forest back again.
21:36<Firefly>	It takes some amount of time but soon the bank of clouds look like a replica of Daring Do's Cutie Mark, the Compass Rose. She's even made the points of North, South, East and West into stairs for ponies to climb on to. She sits on the cloud and giggles. "Daring Do is best Pony."
21:38*	Hawkeye finishes her seconds pass around town, making sure no one is actively hunting her newfound friends. Satisfied that all is clear, she sits down near the edge of town, watching the flamer mare burn foliage.
21:41*	Wintergreen places her newly-acquired Daring Doo book in her saddlebags. She fidgets a bit, her new wings getting in the way. After a moment, she trots for Firefly, calling up to her upon seeing her cloud, "Hey, I hear you're a pretty good adventurer!" She grins.
21:41*	Royal_Lace grins
21:45*	Firefly looks around, not recognizing the voice. Her eyes pass over the pegasus mare once...twice...before locking on. Her jaw, drops...and soon, she starts to squee. "OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!" Its the squee heard round the world, and Firefly flies down at high speeds to greet Best Pony.
21:46*	Sotho blinks as his ear twitch hearing what can be said as a high pitched dog whine
21:47*	Royal_Lace just watches with a smile
21:48*	Wintergreen giggles in place, continuing, "I'm glad I finally get to meet you, kid. Hear about you all the time in the league of adventurers. Firefly, right?"
21:48*	Ignis crosses his arms and just gives a low whistle, interesting, eh...
21:50<Firefly>	Firefly's eyes widen. Daring Do...has heard...of her. "Uh huh! But I'm nothing compared to you! Like the time when you escaped from the pyramid where Ahuizotl trapped you! Or when you managed to take on 6 of his panthers all with a broken wing!"
21:52*	Wintergreen grins. "Oh yeah, but what about that time you kicked flank with bolts of lightening! Pretty awesome if I can say so, myself." She pats the filly's mane. "I'm sure you'll be just as awesome, maybe even moreso some day."
21:56<Firefly>	For a moment, Firefly's brain starts to seize up. Daring Do is complementing her! Saying she'll be as awesome as her! Its almost too much for the little filly...but wait, fainting isn't awesome! "Nopony can be as awesome as you! You always beat up the bad guys, and make sure everyone can see what they try to steal!"
22:00*	Wintergreen smiles. "I sure do, and I want you to do the same." She reaches into her saddle bags, pulling out a Daring Doo book! Hoofing it over to Firefly, she adds, "Make sure to thank your Foalsitter. She caught me just in time when she was shopping, and I flew over here as fast as I could to see you. She's running a little bit behind... but thank her when you see her. And make sure to not get into any trouble!"
22:02*	Sotho chuckles a bit quietly from the whole interaction
22:03*	Firefly pauses and hugs the book to her chest. "Thank you so much! Um...Miss Doo? Can I ask a favor?"
22:03*	Wintergreen nods. "You can ask, but I have a pretty busy schedule."
22:07*	Firefly looks up at Daring Do with the bestest filly eyes she can manage. "We're trying to rescue some slaves so we can go save my momma and poppa. Can you help us?" Firefly looks down at the book in her hooves. "I don't have much to pay you, but you can have this back if you'll help." Firefly holds the book out to Daring Do like an offering.
22:11*	Wintergreen gives Firefly a strained smile. "I'm sorry, Firefly, but I've got other ponies to save... I know you can do it. All of you can. Because you're awesome. Having another pony tag along would just slow things down, and ponies on my list might get hurt by bad guys... you want that, would you?"
22:14<Wintergreen>	you wouldn't want that*
22:15*	Firefly nods to her role model. "Oh! I should have known you were helping other ponies. Sorry." Firefly takes the book back and holds it against her chest.
22:18*	Royal_Lace tears up allitle bit, the whole scene was very cute.
22:20*	Wintergreen leans down and gives Firefly a light hug. "You'll manage it, don't worry." She nods. "Now you be a good little filly. I need to go now, but I'm sure I'll see you again."
22:20*	Sotho also tears up just a tiny bit, being reminded of his daughter
22:22<SpiritOfFate>	Hawkeye sights Coral Spire peeking at the scene, moving to hide.
22:23*	Firefly nods to Daring Do. "Ok. I'll keep being awesome, and keep my eye out for you. Maybe we'll end up rescuing the same ponies someday." Firefly jumps up and gives Daring Do a big hug, wings and all.
22:24*	Hawkeye casually gets up and stays near walls and buildings until she can get close enough to the pink mare to see what she's up to.
22:24*	Wintergreen returns the hug, smiling widely. After a moment, she steps back. She tips her head to all of the ponies. "Keep being awesome!" Trotting away, she disappears back into the town.
22:25*	Hawkeye walks right up behind the coral mare. "Howdy," she says, fairly loudly, pushing her hat back. "Now what did Ah tell you 'bout that there zebra?"
22:27<SpiritOfFate>	"Ah!" The mare takes a leap back. "I-I'm just, just shopping. Uh, bye!" She turns, about to gallop away.
22:27*	Firefly waves good-bye to Daring Do till she disappears. She flits up onto the cloud and sits down, starting to try and read the book.
22:30*	Hawkeye pulls the hammer back on her shotgun. "Nnnope, nice try," she says, stepping to the side and blocking the mare's path. "Y'see, Ah have a vested interest in makin' sure that the zebra an' them ponies make it safe back to their families, instead of gettin' turned in for a cash reward." Her one remaining eye narrows at Coral Spire. "And Ah am none too keen on the idea of some cap-grubber...
22:30*	Hawkeye ...turnin' them in for a bounty, an' ruinin' their lives. Again."
22:31*	Royal_Lace smiles as she steps forward, not seeming to notice hawkeyes absense, "Alright ponies step up one at a time and Ill get to work enchanting us all so we can climb abord Fireflys lovely cloud she made for us.
22:32*	Wintergreen returns a few minutes later, trotting quickly towards Firefly and her cloud. She appears out of breath, panting slightly, though if someone were paying particular attention, it would be obvious that she is faking. She shakes her head, looking around, then groans. "Firefly, did I miss Daring Doo already?"
22:32*	Sotho steps to the side, also noticing Hawkeye's absense.
22:33<SpiritOfFate>	Coral Spire freezes on the spot, trembling in fear.
22:34*	Ignis glares upwards at the cloud, not really buying it. "Are you sure it'll hold me? having in mind how I am now..."
22:34<SpiritOfFate>	"I'm sorry! I, j-just, don't hurt me!"
22:35<Firefly>	Firefly's head pops up over the cloud. "Miss Green!" Firefly leaps out of the cloud and glomps onto the bestest foalsitter. Ballistic Filly! "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"
22:36*	Royal_Lace nods, "The Magic is sound, I dont see why it wouldnt work"
22:36*	Wintergreen falls back onto her haunches, catching the filly in her forehooves. She smiles. "No problem, Firefly... I was pretty surprised when I saw her... but she wanted to meet you! Since you're so well-known in the adventurers league, something or other..."
22:37<Hawkeye>	"Fine, fine, but you listen up. Ah am only going to say this one. More. Time," Hawkeye says, not breaking eye contact with the pink mare. "And since y'all seem to be downright terrible at following instructions, Ah'll say it nice an' slow. Do not." She bumps Coral's nose with hers. "Mess. With these nice folk. Forget. You ever saw them." She snorts, and releases the hammer on the shotgun,...
22:37<Hawkeye>	...easing it back so it doesn't fire. "And if Ah hear that they got hurt 'cause you ratted 'em out? Y'all won't live to see another sunrise. Do Ah make muhself clear?"
22:39*	Firefly giggles and hugs the supremely bestest foalsitter. "I know! I couldn't believe it!"
22:40<SpiritOfFate>	"Y-yes ma'am!" Coral Spire says
22:40*	Royal_Lace horn flashes as she casters her spell on Ignis, "But dont take my word on it, try it for yourself"
22:42*	Ignis nods. "But the issue is..." His eyes dart above. "We need to drag the clouds down here before, I don't doubt Firefly  can do that...but can she take them high up again, plus us?"
22:42<Hawkeye>	"Alright," Hawkeye says, and holsters her shotgun. "That settled, y'ain't got nothing to be afraid of from me." She steps aside. "Y'all said y'had shopping to do. Ah suggest y'get to it."
22:43*	Royal_Lace shrugs, "That... will be up to firefly, i have a plan B in place if she cant, but its not a fantastic alternative. But still better than walking".
22:43<SpiritOfFate>	Coral Spire nods and scurries away
22:44*	Sotho nods a bit. "So we should all be able to fly then to our locations?"
22:44<Ignis>	"As long as I'm not the official taxi..."
22:45*	Hawkeye sighs. It's small wonder she only had a few friends before. That was about as talkative as she got with most people... The charcoal mare trots back to rejoin the group, whistling an old song about smiling.
22:45*	Royal_Lace gets to work casting cloud walk on everypony.
22:46*	Wintergreen pats Firefly. "Glad you met her. Ready to kick flank and be an adventurer?"
22:47*	Firefly nods. "Yup!" Firefly deposits the book in her saddle bags and looks at the cloud. "So, I'm gonna be pushing this, right Miss Lace?"
22:48<SpiritOfFate>	Buck approaches Hawkeye. "What was that?"
22:49<Hawkeye>	"Nothing y'all need to worry your pretty little head about," Hawkeye replies, sidling up to Buck and leaning on him a little. "Just somepony poking their nose where it didn't rightly belong. Ah asked her nicely t'stop bein' rude, and off she went."
22:49*	Royal_Lace looks to firefly, "If you think you can... but dont push yourself if you think its to much, also if you get tired let me know and I can arrange for a break".
22:51*	Firefly nods. "Well...its a cloud. They aren't hard to push, but I can't push very fast or it falls apart."
22:56*	Royal_Lace smiles as she casts the last spell on herslef and trots up the cloud steps Firefly had made. "Alright dear, just dont push yourself to much"
22:57*	Firefly looks to the others. "Um...which way?"
22:57*	Sotho steps up next to the cloud
22:58*	Royal_Lace nods towards the woods, "Ummm.... that way, not sure where we need to go in there but its definately going to be in the woods someplace"
23:00*	Hawkeye nudges Buck. "T'ain't important. Now, Ah guess we're goin' for a cloud ride?" She looks over at Lace. "Are... are y'all sure that's a great idea? Ah mean, Earth Ponies ain't the best flyers... we was meant to stay on the ground..."
23:01<Sotho>	"Same with Zebras... well except for that one potion." He smiles
23:02*	Hawkeye shudders. "Nnnnope. We don't even use alchemy at all. It's impossible for an Earth Pony to fly, without bein' in a flying machine."
23:04*	Firefly looks over at Hawkeye. "Don't worry, you won't be flying! I will be."
23:05<SpiritOfFate>	"But you can't limit yourself with what you've been stuck with, right?" Buck smiles to Hawkeye
23:06*	Hawkeye tries to smile, but still looks very nervous. "That seems like a mighty sage piece of advice," she says, swallowing. "Musta been some wise pony told you that."
23:07<SpiritOfFate>	Buck nuzzles Hawkeye. "Eeyup. It will be fine."
23:08<Sotho>	"Just trust the filly and Lace, I think they both know what they are doing."
23:08<Hawkeye>	"Ah trusted y'all with muh life before," Hawkeye says. "An Ah'm still alive, so Ah'm guessin this time won't be no different." She sighs heavily. "Let's just hope Ah don't get airsick..."
00:38<SpiritOfFate>	---
00:39<SpiritOfFate>	The cloud bank is ready for departure. Knick Knack waits by Royal_Lace's side to climb on it. Buck jumps on it to test it and his hooves meet solid cloud. "This is pretty cool."
00:41*	Royal_Lace beams as she stands and motions for Nick Nack to follow her as she moves to the steps, "Well its nothing really, we should be thanking firefly for making us such a nice cloudbank to ride really"
00:41*	Sotho smiles as he pats the cloud. "Yeah it is rather nice!"
00:41*	Hawkeye shuffles her hooves. "Uh, Ah just realized Ah left muh, uh, shotgun, back at the hotel, y'all go on without me..."
00:42*	Firefly giggles and looks over at Hawkeye. "Awe...ok. We can wait for you to get your shotgun."
00:43*	Royal_Lace helps everypony find a place to sit
00:43*	Sotho raises an eyebrow
00:44*	Sotho sights Hawkeye's Shotgun. "It's right there."
00:44<SpiritOfFate>	Buck chuckles. "Aw, c'mon. It's not that bad. I'll hold you if you're worried."
00:45<Hawkeye>	"Oh, I'm sure it'll take me forever to find it," Hawkeye says, rubbing the back of her neck. "And Ah'm not sure where the ammo is, and-" She stops as Sotho points out her lie. "Fiddlesticks... Ah ain't never been further off the ground than a three-story building before, an' it makes me nervous to think about." She looks up at Buck. "O-okay, but if y'all drop me, Ah am gonna kick you into...
00:45<Hawkeye>	...next Tuesday..." The charcoal mare hesitantly tries to step up onto the clouds...
00:46*	Sotho chuckles a bit. "I've flown before. After being slung by a large tentacled monster.
00:47*	Royal_Lace rolls her eyes, "Oh please, what is the worst thing that that could happen? Even if you were to fall of I could catch you before you hit the ground".
00:48*	Firefly nods to Hawkeye. "I could catch you too! I'm really fast."
00:48*	Royal_Lace tries to look confident even though she was doing little more than guessing at her ablility to catch anypony before they hit the ground. Her teleporting was good but she wasnt sure she was quite that fast.
00:49*	Hawkeye climbs up and sits VERY close to Buck. "Ah trust y'all, really, Ah do," Hawkeye protests. "It's just tryin' to convince muh hooves an' stomach that this ain't a terrible idea."
00:50*	Firefly nods up to Hawkeye. "Don't worry, I won't go that fast."
00:51*	Sotho looks down a bit and smiles. the forest looks nice
00:51*	Firefly gets behind the cloud and starts to push it. Nice and slow at first, but slowly picking up speed.
00:51*	Hawkeye shudders and closes her eyes. "Alright, let's just get this over with..." She pushes her hat down over her face and lies prone on the cloud.
00:52<SpiritOfFate>	Buck wraps an hoof around Hawkeye. "Getting into the forest by hoof wouldn't be much better."
00:52*	Royal_Lace takes a seat next to Nick Nack and looks around, "Alright everypony, ready for liftoff?"
00:53<SpiritOfFate>	Knick Knack lies against the cloudy floor and nods.
00:53*	Hawkeye huddles close to Buck. "No. But we have to do it to get back on the ground again, so get on with it..."
00:53*	Sotho nods as well
01:14*	Firefly gets behind the cloud and starts to push it. Nice and slow at first, but slowly picking up speed.
01:15*	Royal_Lace stretchs her neck and looks over the side of the cloud as the ground slowly leaves them behind.
01:19*	Royal_Lace horn glows as she levetats our a pair of bonoculars from her saddlebags and begins to scan the horizon above the trees, "hummm.... so who wants to be on navigation duty?"
01:20<Sotho>	Well
01:21<Sotho>	"Well, I believe I can navigate the forest, even from here." He laughs
01:21<SpiritOfFate>	The ground grows distant as they lift off into the sky, flying over the sea of green that is the forest. A number of miles ahead they can see a trail of smoke northwest, an amazingly tall crooked tree northeast and a ridge further east, where the forest ends and they can see the distant view of a city. The cloud cover crosses the horizon in the far distance.
01:23*	Royal_Lace floats the bonaculars to Sotho, "Here you go then, humm... maybe try and spy whats going on around the smoke or the tree?"
01:23*	Sotho nods a bit, looking throught the binos to see the smoke first
01:27<SpiritOfFate>	Sotho can see a clearing with small rustic huts.
01:27*	Sotho shivers before looking over to the tree, his mind automatically guessing the Nnoto are in those huts.
01:29*	Hawkeye gets up and shakily walks to the edge of the cloud and looks toward the smoke as well. "Hmm. Signs of life... Whatca seein' there, Sotho? Friendly natives, or dangerous minions of Ahzuoatal?" She winks at Firefly.
01:30<Firefly>	Hawkeye can see Firefly sweating as she pushes the cloud, little wings beating against the air with everything she has. The filly smiles up at Hawkeye, but is breathing heavily.
01:31<Sotho>	"M-minions if I ever did see one."
01:32<Firefly>	"Bad...ponies?" Firefly calls out between breaths, keeping the cloud moving.
01:34*	Royal_Lace covers her eyes with a hoof as she stares out at the tree, "And what of the giant tree?"
01:36<Sotho>	"I'm checking the tree right now but the Nnoto's are probably in the hut"
01:36<Sotho>	huts*
01:37*	Hawkeye snorts and picks up her sniper rifle. "Let me take a look," she says, and puts the scope to her eye, resting the rifle on the cloud for stability.
01:40<SpiritOfFate>	It's too far to have a clear picture, but there seems to be ponies standing on some of its branches
01:42<Hawkeye>	"Folks in the tree branches," Hawkeye grumbles. "And y'all can bet that if we can see them, they can see us. It's only a matter of time until some yahoo decides to take a pot shot at us, Sotho. We should probably lose some altitude right quick..."
01:43*	Sotho nods a bit. "Just try to find a relatively safe area, I can lead us through the forest as best I can."
01:44*	Firefly nods and starts to look around for a place they can land.
01:44*	Hawkeye shoulders her rifle, and pats Firefly's head. "Alright, half-pint, y'all done good. Just put us down nice and easy-like, and y'all can take a nap on muh back."
01:45*	Royal_Lace strains her eyes to see, "Ponies on tree branches? also why dosent she rest up here before we go down so she can be actually have some breath before we touch down in this forest?"
01:46<Hawkeye>	"Because the longer we stay up here, the longer we stick out like a bloody nose," Hawkeye says. "More chance to get shot at. Besides, can Firefly still keep a cloud together like this when she's asleep?"
01:47*	Royal_Lace looks to the filly, "No idea... but it should hold to gether alright for a while, right Firefly?"
01:47<Firefly>	"I'm...fine. Just a...bit winded." Firefly calls out as she looks for a place to land. Seeing one, she calls out. "Found it!" Firefly shouts out, and starts pushing the cloud in the direction of the clearing.
01:48*	Sotho smiles. "After this Firefly you get a snack for being such an awesome hero!"
01:49<Firefly>	"Sparkle...cola?" Firefly smiles, pushing the cloud along.
01:49*	Royal_Lace floats her binoculars back from Sotho, "Alright then... yes, and I think I have an extra sparkle cola for our powerful little flier"
01:49*	Sotho nods nods. "sure Firefly!"
01:49*	Firefly cheers and pushes the cloud as fast as she can.
01:50*	Hawkeye keeps a close eye on the giant tree as they descend. This whole place is already giving Hawkeye a bad feeling...
01:51<SpiritOfFate>	Hawkeye's hollow eye sees a distant green glow coming from it
01:59*	Hawkeye grits her teeth. "This ain't gonna be easy..."
02:02*	Royal_Lace watches the clearing growing nearer and nearer, silently she wished she could stay airborn a bit longer...