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Day 2, Part 2:

The sunset was flaming in the sky, the air was filled with golden light and tranquil peace, and the last birds were flying peacefully to their nests across the twilit sky. Everyone had stopped for the day and was sitting around their fire, preparing supper. Poinsettia had joined them, and some of the other ponies in the herd had shown an evident desire to go with them, so they had continued their journey much more swiftly, with friends to help them on their way.

But right now Hex was brooding fiercely. She sighed and got to her feet.

Poinsettia looked up. "Where are you going?" she asked idly - the drowsy peacefulness of the evening had entered everyone.

"Oh, just - just for a walk," said Hex, and walked away. Once she was out of sight, she turned and plunged into the forest. The thick foliage of the leaves cut off the beauty of the land beyond. Her life was like that, Hex thought moodily. She was cut off from the happiness of the others.

"You're being silly," she told herself as she reached a little forest clearing and leaned against an old oak. She was happier, wasn't she? That's what she'd been telling herself. But somehow, being with the actual people themselves had been changing her feelings, almost against her will. They always seemed to enjoy things so much more, to laugh and talk and, well, be happy. It had been hard to escape from her cold, morbid thoughts and try to seem one of them, but she'd been managing it pretty well - up till now. Now, suddenly, they'd all come rushing up on her. She knew that she couldn't, really, ignore them. [Her thoughts, not the CBers.]

It was getting darker. Hex brushed back her hair and looked around anxiously. He ought to be here by now, she thought. If she took too long, everyone would get worried and start looking for her.

Ah, at last. A tall, lean man, wiht ragged brown hair and smirking eyes, came slouching into the clearing. He looked around, and his disconcertingly keen eyes saw Hex at once. "There you are," he said, his voice smooth and oily. "What's the news?"

"There are three others," Hex told him. "Luna Silvermoon, Darkvine and Poinsettia." She hesitated, then told him the rest. "I couldn't dissuade them from following the first clue," she confessed. "I don't know - how easy it will be."

The man shrugged. "There are other ways, you know."

"Such as?" Hex tried to keep her voice casual.

The man's eyes narrowed. "Your cousin won't let them go on like this for much longer," he muttered. "If they won't be turned aside from finding the treasure, they might always just... disappear." Then he turned and moved away, rapidly swallowed up by the dark, irregular tree trunks and the darkness that grew and grew.

Hex stood very still, trying to regain her composure. Disappear. Be murdured, in plain words. A look of resolution came into her clear eyes. She wouldn't let them get any closer to finding the treasure. Somehow, she would lead them all off on a wild goose chase instead - and save their lives.

And she went back to the camp.

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I..shall join

Name:Reuby Moonnight

Pronouns (she/her or he/him, please):She/her

Age:12

Are you:

Fire or Ice?Fire

Sea or Stars?Stars

Poet or Practical?Practical

Fight or Flight?Fight

Describe your appearance:Long black hair, sharp gold eyes, pale skin and gothic clothing.

Packing list:Drawing supplise, nintendo switch and extra clothing

@Hex: I'm glad you like it! And no, sorry, you can't kill everyone.

@Reuby Moonnight: Thank you for joining! Please just add what your basic personality is. I forgot to add it on the form, sorry about that...

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Day 2, Part 3:

With the cooler night breezes and an appetizing supper (Miss Fern and Mr. Soforth had brought along all the food that they would need for a while), everyone had become more talkative. "When do you suppose we'll find the next clue?" Poinsettia was saying. "Oh, hi, Hex! Did you have a nice walk?"

"Yes," said Hex untruthfully, sitting down close to the fire.

"I'm glad," said Darkvine. "You know, I was wondering if we're in our world now, or still in Lilacgold's world."

"?" said Poinsettia, and the whole thing was explained to her. Then Miss Fern added, "I think we're still in Lilacgold's world. I mean, where in your world is there any place quite like this?"

"In some parts of the US, probably," said Luna Silvermoon, wiping her fingers on the grass after having eaten a sandwich.

"You're sitting on me," said Nightly indignantly.

They talked for a little longer, but eventually, as the fire sank lower and the moon higher, they just sat and thought about things - and, Luna noticed, Miss Fern and Mr. Soforth were sitting together a little way away, and they were holding hands. "Who knows if they're really in love, though," she told herself.

And then, into the silence but seeming to mingle with it rather than pierce it, came the cry of an owl. Darkvine had always heard people say that owls sounded haunting, but this wasn't haunting at all. It was a note woven of warm summer moonshine and blazing autumn and gentle spring, of quivering moonlit pools and quivering mountain breezes, of the quiet land and the ethereal stars. It sent shivers along Darkvine, true; but they were nice shivers. Out here in the countryside, with peaceful moonlight and calm winds, it was a lovely sound, that hung vibrating on the air for a moment before fading away. Then a silver owl flew out of the forest and southeast, towards where the woods fell away to open grasslands and, in the distance, the beginning of moorland. And suddenly, as the owl folded its wings upward in its flight, it was gone.

"We'll go in that direction in the morning," said Miss Fern softly after a moment.

Hex sighed and lay down to sleep. She could see in the faces of the others that they would not be dissuaded from following this sign either. For a fleeting instant she wondered if she would be able to save them at all.

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And... I just realized that Poinsettia didn't say what her personality was. I've been going along the lines of "warm and imaginative"... @Poinsettia, should I just keep doing that?

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Two Weeks Later:

They were sitting around the campfire with the night mists eddying around them. Darkvine, staring into the shifting flames, realized how much had changed in those two weeks. To begin with, the land they had journeyed over had changed; the sunlit plains had given way to misty moors like something in Ireland, but more magical, more misty, more emerald and silver and gold. Then the latest sign - the sudden vivid sunset and the flashing bird flying into the middle of it, a Phoenix lost in its fiery pyre, showing them the next direction they should go. The sudden feeling they had all shared lately of being watched, of there being some menacing danger in the air. And the arrival of Reuby Moonnight, just a few days ago - the swirling wind that had blown her to them, her eyes shining strangely as if she had almost enjoyed it.

Darkvine looked around at them all: at Reuby, huddled up close to the fire but her eyes roving the mist as if to see something beyond it; at Luna, finishing her supper and exchanging an occasional quiet word with Nightly; at Poinsettia, a faint smile on her lips as she thought about something, and lastly at Hex. Hex. Darkvine's gaze lingered on her. As usual, she was a little way away from the others, her eyes on the fire and looking as if she had drawn something between her gaze and her thoughts, so that you couldn't even guess at what was going through her mind. She got that look sometimes; and, secretly, it troubled Darkvine. Why was Hex so diferent? Why did she always go on these long, rambling walks alone, and why did she always look faintly worried when she returned from them? And then she'd been acting as if she didn't really believe in the clues they'd found. Why not?

Darkvine shook her head. There were too many questions surrounding Hex like the eddying mist, cutting her off from the others.

Silence closed around them for a few moments more. The fire was starting to burn low. Then, suddenly, it flared up again, slanting through the mist like rays of sun. Everyone looked up, a sudden strong feeling sweeping through them as if it had been a piercing song. In the hearts of everyone they felt a rising desire to stay loyal to each other and their quest to the end, and to do their utmost to find the treasure. It changed them, and it was to stay with them until the end of their search. They looked at each other with glowing eyes, somehow united as they had never really been before.

Suddenly Hex leaned forward, the firelight shining fiercely on her face. "There's something I have to tell you," she said, slightly breathlessly but almost defiantly too. She paused a moment, her gaze darting through the mist. But no, it was impossible to see if someone was hiding in it and listening to all she said. "Your lives are in danger," she went on in a low voice. "Yes, you've been feeling it; I know. The treasure - I don't know what it is, but it's important to some rich people and companies. They don't want you to find it - want us to find it. I think they want to find it themselves, and so you're in the way." She paused for a moment to catch her breath, and Reuby Moonnight interposed coldly,

"How do you know?"

"Because their leader in stopping you is my cousin," said Hex in a very low, level tone. "After my parents died he helped me, and now he wanted me to join you and stop you from finding the treasure; he said you would be killed if I didn't, so I did. But now - oh, I just had to warn you. We must be careful."

There was a little pause. Luna was slightly startled. This Hex seemed so different, so much more earnest and somehow real. It was as if the other Hex was only a shell, covering the person inside. "So that's where you went when you went on walks - it was to talk with them," she said.

Hex nodded. "I would have gone on helping them," she admitted. "But now I know we have to find the treasure - before they do."

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A bit short... but I wanted to go ahead and get the next part out.

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Day 17, Part 1:

The world around them had changed in another way too, Luna Silvermoon realized the next morning. When they had set out two weeks ago, it had been warm, golden, vibrant late summer. Now there was something chillier in the air - a cool undertone that warned of bitter days to come. She turned to Reuby Moonnight as another thought occurred to her.. "Why haven't we met any other people yet?" she asked. "I mean - surely we have to meet someone besides ourselves."

"Eventually, I suppose," said Reuby carelessly. "But what does it matter?"

"Well, what will we do when it gets to be winter?" said Nightly, guessing Luna's thoughts. "These moors won't be so pleasant then."

Reuby shrugged. "It isn't winter yet."

Still, the moorland was a strange place to be. There were miles and miles of short emerald grasses, with here and there a gently sloping hill. Passing one of these, Darkvine saw rough stone where the grass didn't grow and rough designs cut into it that looked as if they might mean something. The dawn was still lingering in the east, and one or two hidden birds sang rippling droplets of song through the clear stillness in the air and the endless sameness of the glades. There was nothing to break the monotony, unless you counted the occassional tumbling, silver, ice-pure and ice-cold stream, and Darkvine didn't. Just the horses' hoofbeats and the endless arc of sky and the endless arc of earth and the repetitive songs of the birds - 

Her horse suddenly gave a sharp whinny and shied. At the same moment something cleaved through the air with a shrill whine and an arrow flew over Darkvine's shoulder, to fall, quivering, onto the ground.

Everyone had seen it; and Poinsettia saw the sinister, crouching figure a little way behind them too. But there was no time to think. The frightened ponies bolted, and certainly their riders weren't about to hold them back: before anyone had fully started, another arrow nearly struck Reuby. "Humph!" muttered Nightly. "Let's hope whoever it is doesn't have a horse too." And he called back to their attacker, "Why bother to shoot, if you can't shoot properly?"

No one else cared to waste breath on speaking. The distance between them and the figure, now standing upright, was rapidly widening, but they weren't out of range yet. Indeed, there seemed to be more arrows than ever - Hex felt the feathers of one of them actually brush her cheek - before they saw the castle ahead of them.

It was a tall, delicate castle, almost more of a palace: at any rate, you could tell it was meant not for defence, but for a home. It rose before them, elegant and somehow protective, and directly in front of them was an open gate. "Get inside!" gasped Miss Fern, and with one accord the little cluster of horses swept through it. Reuby Moonnight, glanceing back as she drew to a stop, caught a glimpse of several men slipping away.

The others were swinging off, and a soldier who had been standing at the gate was coming towards them.

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@Lilacgold, this is wonderful so far! You have a gorgeous writing style :)