>>318860
Confirming that this post is me. Also I have to finish this story today because of reasons. Hopefully it doesn't come out too rushed.
>nothing much happens for the rest of the day
>except for the occasional whiff of that burnt smell
>and come to think of it
>that was pretty much the only thing I smelled the whole trip
>now seeing as you're probably not an apple farmer who lives near the Everfree Forest
>you probably don't know what's so weird about that
>well
>it was zap apple season
>and during zap apple season, the timber wolves get real restless
>and timber wolves stink
>they stink something fierce
>I did notice that I didn't smell any timber wolves
>but I didn't think much of it except to be grateful
>anyway, it's a day of some normal woodland fun
>and a day that's missing normal woodland critters
>well the Sun goes down
>and P gets some marshmallows outta Celestia-knows-where
>so we set ourselves down to a real proper Everfree campfire
>and by proper, I mean D tries to tell us a scary story
>she starts it off by flying in place over the fire, her face real low and close to the flames
>that cocky little smile on her face that she had whenever she was about to try and impress somebody
"Somewhere… in this very forest… the deer-folk have a legend…"
<"I don't think there are any deer-folk in the Everfree F-"
"Of a terrifying monster… that eats ponies… and wears the flesh of its victims…"
"Eeeeeeeuuuuuuughh! That's disgusting!"
"To lure ponies into the woods… to be… eaten…"
>P is nibbling furiously at her hoof-tips
"And this creature is called… the skin trotter…"
<"That's a buffalo legend, and that's not how it goes at a-"
"It stalks its prey for days! Waiting for the perfect moment to lure you into the woods… all by yourself…"
"A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-and w-w-w-w-w-what happens then?"
"And then…"
>D is circling around P's head now
"It…"
>and she strikes, she tackles P to the ground and shouts
"Gets you!"
>P screams loud and long
>like
>really loud
>and really long
>actually it kinda hurts my ears
>but when she's done screaming she's giggling and laughing
>P was like that
>most of the rest of the night goes on like this
>P tells a story about a haunted cupcake
>R regales us with the tale of her "worst hair day"
>it's not til the fire is starting to die that…
>something happens
>a loud, long scream comes outta the woods
>it sounds just like P
>and P's not by the fire anymore
>we all lose our heads for a minute, and then D flies into the woods as fast as she can, screaming out P's name
>we're all staring into the woods
>but before anyone can say we should go after her
"Hey guys, what's going on?"
>it's P
>look between P and the woods
>look between the woods and P
"P? Did- did you scream out there?"
"Huh? No, I was just getting more marshmallows."
>sure enough, there at her hooves is a bag of marshmallows
>everyone is real quiet for a minute
<"I think we should go look for D."
>but outta the woods comes a voice
"No need! I'm good."
>and D comes stumbling into the clearing on her hooves
<"D? Are you okay? What was that scream?"
"Oh, that? I wouldn't worry about it."
>she scratches at her ear with her hoof for a second
"Probably just a rabbit or something. Anyway, it's pretty late. Let's go to bed!"
"You wanna go to bed already?"
"Oh yeah, definitely, I'm pretty tired."
>this really wasn't like D
>only just last night she was happy to stay up late
>but after D went into her tent
>after she asked us which one was hers
>it really did feel like it was about time for bed
>so we put out the fire
>and said good night
4/6?