One place left out of the tour

Fireseeker had seen most places around Ponyville apart from one. One place that was quite well known throughout all of Equestria. And here he was standing on the edge of the tree line.

So this was the famous Everfree forest. On first inspection, the forest didn't seem as daunting as everypony made it out to be. He could here animal movement but saw no little critter or birds.

Curious, he took a step closer, trying to peak further in. What was the harm of having a wander through the Everfree forest?

A brown pony walked up to him as he decided to go inside the everfree forest.
"Hello. i don't see many ponies entering the Everfree Forest." He noted while musing slightly, noting the location in a Creepy narrator imitation.
He looked at the pegasus with his empty expression, his eyes as dark as the inner reaches of the forest Fireseeker was about to step into.

He took a look into Everfree forest aswell, thinking of the rumors in his head about the forest that echoed within his mind.

"the place has a rumor or two going about, doesn't it?"

Fireseeker couldn't help but chuckle at the pony's scary voice. He quickly glanced over him, noting his lack of cutie mark and how old he looked. Also, the earth pony's stare seemed almost devoid of any expression.

Fireseeker decided to humour him.

"Really now? What kind of rumours?" asked Fireseeker, "I've heard a few myself..."

"the ever so typical Scary, dangerous, do not enter, Beware of X and Y.... and before you make any suspicions, i don't believe i have anything to do with one of more creepy rumors that go around. ever heard of the blank flank village rumor?"
He assured his statement with a sincere smile, which wasn't exactly wide or very smile-y, but it was a smile and seemingly sincere.

"I assume the rumors you've heard are more of the same?"
His expression and tone were both quite devoid of expression, as mentioned earlier, but he does seem slightly interested in the conversation.

"Yeah, more or less the same," Fireseeker replied, nodding in agreement, "I doubt any of it is true though. The blank flank village is a good ghost story though."

Turning back to the forest, Fireseeker inspected it again for anything suspicious or dangerous. Then he looked back at the earth pony.

"My name's Fireseeker by the way."

"Call me Ave. you're looking in it an awful lot. planning to go in? any reason why?"
He asked in a calm tone.

"if you are, maybe we could go together, would make for a nice event."
He smiled and looked in aswell, his face drifting off into a thoughtful gaze towards the forest.

A grin spreading across his face, Fireseeker rustled his wings a little in excitement.

"You read my mind Ave," he said, stepping through the bushes into the forest. "Come on. Adventure awaits."

"one moment." Ave grabbed a few elastic bands and tied his large mane and tail up a little so they wouldn't obstruct him nearly as much.

One that was done, he happily said "Go ahead! i'll follow, and don't worry, i'm not the type to get distracted without telling you i noticed something!"
His expression had become slightly more joyful due to this conversation and plan

Fireseeker waited for Ave before continuing to travel into the forest. Even though he wasn't very deep into the trees, it was already dark. Darker than he had expected. When Ave was ready he trotted onwards.

"Good. I wouldn't want something bad to happen to someone as little col-"

Fireseeker caught himself before he said something he might regret. Ave may not have a cutie mark but he didn't exactly look like a young colt.

"-t?" Ave finished for him, smiling.

"you seem nervous about something. Anything i can help or give clarity on?" Ave remarked in song-like voice, not completely sure what had seemingly put Fireseeker in a twist, asking to make sure.

"unless of course you need help literally seeing something, in that case, i have little help or clarity to offer." He noted in a slightly annoyed tone, showing his irritation for the darkness

Shifted slightly uncomfortably as he walked, Fireseeker nodded. His natural indecisiveness made him unsure of how to word it, so he very poorly explained himself.

"Yeah, well, no offence or anything but, since you don't have a cutie mark, it kind of makes me think you must be young," Fireseeker said, before back tracking, "Not that I think your a baby foal or anything."

"if you thought i was a baby foal i'd be more worried about you, then me. but you're right, i'm a little young, but not very. i've just had bad luck with my cutie mark."
He chuckled a little friendly, in attempt to make the pegasus feel more secure about himself.

"My my, it's hard not to trip over all these roots. and be careful of anything colorful by the way!" he said stepping carefully, following Fireseeker

"You'll get it eventually,"Fireseeker assured him. "Everypony finds their special talent, one way or another-"

His sentence was cut off as he tripped on a root, just as Ave had warned. Luckily, Fireseeker flapped his wings to prevent him from falling flat on his face.

"Phew, close one," he commented, "Good thing too. Would have landed in that patch of blue flowers too."

Ave had instinctively lunged for his tail, trying to help fireseeker, but had noticed he used his wings, letting go of his tail.
"excuse me for getting your tail wet?" Ave said, unsure of what to say.

"so um. it may be cliche for me to ask, but what's your cutie mark story?" He wondered, speaking slowly though because he had to watch his hooves, moreso then fireseeker.

In response Fireseeker only shrugged, flicking his tail a little from side to side.

"No worries."

He considered the request, wondering how best to tell his story. As always, he wanted to avoid certain embarrassing and upsetting details but didn't want to appear impolite.

"I had...an experience when I was young. Quite traumatic, for me anyway. I ended up writing about it when I entered a competition. Of course, I removed myself as the main character from the story. I was voted first place, apparently by a landslide. Then my cutie mark appeared."

Fireseeker looked back at the image of the quill and fiery trail it left.

"Figured it represents the passion and inspiration that I write with."

"that's pretty co-Woah!" The brown pony had tripped, and was waggling his arms in the air, barely keeping his balance as he hung a little over a small ditch which had a lot of little rocks and moss inside, not looking like a pleasant place to fall in at all.

He frantically tried to grab something as he was falling.

Seeing Ave in trouble, Fireseeker quickly returned the earlier favour by grabbing his tail in his mouth. Using his wings to help, he pulled Ave back to safety.

"Your welcome," smirked Fireseeker after spitting his tail from his mouth. "And you said mind your step."

Ave chuckled nervously.
"well, everyone's a hypocrite sooner or later. and it's definitely not the first time i'm with my thoughts elsewhere... now, how do we... I get passed this ditch?"
He thought for a second, before taking a few steps, and swiftly stepping via a single root onto a tree finishing by jumping off and landing safely, covering quite a few small obstacles.

"Nothing too dangerous or exciting so far.. how about you? place seems pretty harmless to me."

"Yeah, it's not so bad," agreed Fireseeker, glancing around him.

They were still surrounded by tall trees and bushes. He noticed a few sets of eyes among the leaves, watching him and Ave. As soon as he focused one them, they disappeared into the undergrowth.

"Still, it's a little...unnerving."

"aren't dark places usually for most ponies?" Ave said this in a disturbingly happy sing-song tone.

He calmly continues with a skip in his trot, his hooves consistently landing on all the right spots somehow , like he could see the ground perfectly without looking at it intently.

"well, i hope there's something nice or scary sooner or later, or else this won't be worthy of a story or a good adventure, would it now?"

"Well, among all of the rumours and old mare's tales, I'm fairly sure one of them is true."

Stopping in his tracks, Fireseeker sat down on a fallen tree to talk.

"I've been around a lot of Equestria and heard many stories but one keeps coming up. I'm sure you know about Nightmare Moon and everything, but have you heard about the ancient ruins of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters?"

"i've read about those! that one is more then a mere rumor!" He beamed with joy while talking about it, still stepping perfectly, even if fireseeker had gone to sit, with some strange happiness, as they entered a clearing which showed clouds and weather that couldn't be more sad.
But the ground was no longer rough and the air no longer just branches, here they could easily move freely.

"I wonder if we can do something like find the castle!" he said, probably with more enthusiasm then a pony should be allowed to have in such a place.

"That's exactly what I was hoping we could do," Fireseeker answered. "You see, I heard about it so much, it seems like one of the few 'rumours' that could actually have some element of truth in it."

He gestured to the forest around them.

"This place holds all kinds of secrets. I bet if we find the castle, there might be some pretty unique artifacts, history or even sights to see."

"Yeah! who knows. all we can do is our best to try and find it. can you make anything out? this clearing seems like a good point to fly up and look around, if you wouldn't mind..."
Ace looked into the skies, which were very cloudy, the unnaturally dark sky and unnerving mist made it medium-hard to see, even in this large clearing.

Ave looked around and tried to find landmarks from a distance.

"i can't see anything recognizable from here..."
He shaked his head.
"anyway, you were talking and i digressed, excuse me. maybe we could sit a little for conversation here. it's less dangerous then being surrounded by thick plantlife and mist."
He smiled kindly, trying to make up for walking on while Fire had wanted to sit.

They had travelled for a little while, with a few incidents but nothing serious. Fireseeker figured they may as well sit and rest a little. Patting the space on the log next to him, he shuffled to make his sitting more comfortable.

"May as well sit. I can fly up in a little and see if I can see anything from above," he said, before giving Ave an inquisitive look. "So, I'm guessing you live in Ponyville then?"