Continuation of: http://pastebin.com/9DcR10mN
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcSbyIl_jEE
>It's not a particularly long trip to the forest
>You headed through town with only minor incident
>'Minor' being a loose term
>Almost as soon as you set out from Twilight's house and headed through the town to reach the forest, things started going to pot.
>A pony saw your weapons, started yelling in a horrified manner, and doors and windows started slamming all across town
>skittish lot, these ponies
>Just another reason for you to take pride in what you're doing
>Even if they don't know it's you doing it yet
>You continue towards the forest, unhindered
>You stop, at the edge of the forest
>Eyes closed, you take a deep breathe, hold it a moment and exhale
>First day jitters
>Great
>You head inside, following the trail before you
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12gvHVKXHvE
>You begin to explore the woods, looking for the materials you were tasked to obtain, but the forest becomes darker the deeper in you go
>It's foreboding, unsettling and highly unnatural
>Like the forest itself is alive
>But that's silly, forests are not living creatures
>Or are they?
>The trees do seem to be glaring menacingly at you
>Almost as if they don't want you there
>You soon find the first of the items you were tasked to find out here
>A small patch of mushrooms
>You start picking through them, ignoring the blatantly poisonous ones
>You come up with 5 blue mushrooms, and an exciteshroom
>Not much, all things considered, but you could easily return to town now
>You decide it's probably a better idea to get some other things while you're out here
>Y'know, never know what you might need
>Besides, you still needed herbs, and you were still contemplating getting the Poison Joke flower
 
>You've been in this forest for a good couple of hours now
>Still exploring, still looking for anything that could be of any use
>You finally come across a familiar sight
>Kelbi
>These damned things really ARE everywhere, aren't they?
>Seems to be a couple of doe and a buck or two, but no alpha males
>None of them have the right size horns for it
>You seem to recall that kelbi horn is useful as an ingredient in healing salves
>You also remember that it has to have been carved from a living specimen to be used
>You look at your short blade and wonder how you're going to be able to get a horn without outright killing them
>Then you remember that you're a god damned hunter, and you can get pelts off of them too
>Warm Pelts that you can take to have some basic leather armor crafted
>It'll atleast provide more protection than what you've got on right now, anyway
>You kinda got thrown into this job though
>You don't even know who the local smithy is
 
>oh shit
>You don't even know IF there's a local smithy
>This might be harder than you thought
>Just... fuck
>Not important now
>If there's no smithy, you can always take the pelts to a clothier
>These are sentient ponies you're talking about
>Even if first impression of the town you're in says otherwise, you know these ponies wear clothing at least SOMETIMES
>You certainly seem to remember a bunch of them in Canterlot wearing jackets, dresses and hats, at the very least
>Hell, the 'Wonderbolts', or whatever they called themselves, had those neat looking jumpsuits
>That would just leave the matter of upgrading, or even making weapons, but that can wait atleast a little bit
>You have some weapons for now
>Armor is the priority
 
>Kelbi are most certainly NOT fighters
>As you start attacking them, they do try to fend you off, but to no avail
>You've already taken down a number of them
>The rest have fled
>Kelbi aren't tough or hard to handle
>not even the alpha males of the group
>too bad one them didn't show up
>Their horns are perfect for making medicines
>As it stands, though, you've gotten more than enough Warm Pelts to make that leather armor
>Plus some Raw Meat
>Just need something to cook it with
>You casually wonder what they p0nies would think about you eating it
>They are largely herbivores, after all
>Although Twilight certainly seemed to enjoy those pancakes Spike made, and they have eggs and milk in them
>...
>...
>...
>Meh, you'll worry about it later
 
>You've wondered about the forest another couple of hours
>It should be about mid-day now, but the forest's canopy is literally blocking out all light.
>You should have grabbed a torch or a lantern or something on your way in here
>And you STILL haven't seen any herbs OR Poison Joke
>The herbs are a new plant species here, so finding them may be difficult
>But what about the Poison Joke?
>Didn't Twilight say something about them growing on the path?
>How have you not seen them yet?
>You stop
>Something is amiss here
>...
>Something is following you
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF_0cDR657Y
>You continue along the path as best you can in this horrible dark
>You're none too sure what has found you, but you're figuring it is no kelbi
>Too predatory in it's approach
>Attempting to be silent
>Stalking you as though you're it's next meal, and not vice-versa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeWGSo17BAc
>You turn to see a wolf like creature
>It seems to be entirely made of wood, however
>This is not a creature you've ever encountered or even heard of before
>It comes closer, sizing you up
>Then you hear more of them to either side of you
>they've got you surrounded
>atleast from this side
>You give no ground though
>They sense that you're not going to shy away from a fight
 
>after moment more of sizing you up, the first one lunges at you, going for your throat
>Only to have your shield smack it headfirst into the dirt
>You apply pressure with your shield to hold it in place
>Quickly, you unsheathe your iron knife and thrust the blade into its head
>The body clatters into a heap of wooden brush and...
>HERBS!
>No time for that now, though
>You've still got a pack of these bastards around you
>and now they want your blood
>They've given up coordinized hunting tactics and are instead attacking you as savagely as their hulls will allow them
>And more of them are cropping up out of seemingly nowhere
>You fight them off as best you can, but they're quickly overpowering you with sheer numbers
>You've taken down no less than 15 of the feral, wooden bastards, but they just keep coming
>and finally, it happens
 
>You make a mistake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkLN0Q-tqzA
>You falter to a strike from one them, and are knocked backwards
>the wolves quickly swarm to your fallen form and pin you down
>one of them is on your chest, and slowly lowers it's face to meet yours
>Snarling and drooling, savoring its victory
>Well that was a quick run, wasn't it?
>This creatures breathe is terrible
>You're battered and beaten
>You're about to become food for a pack of wooden wolves
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKK1pc3u4d8
>and now you get to deal with incessant buzzing of insects
>The wolf's face is now inches from your own
>You close your eyes and make your peace with the world
>Except for those damnable insects buzzing about
>In tartarus name, they actually seem to be getting louder!
>You suddenly feel the pressure on your chest removed
>The buzzing seems to peak in loudness, and then slowly begins to fade
 
>You open your eyes and see that the wolves are gone!
>Well, except the ones you'd already 'killed'
>'Killed' being a loose term, you don't tend to think of plants as alive
>These may be an exception.
>Why didn't they finish you when they had such a clean opportunity do so?
>Had the bugs driven them off?
>Maybe it was some sort of termites that scared them off?
>Perhaps some Bnahabra?
>No, you'd grown up in Moga Village, you knew the sound of the Bnahabra
>That was most certainly not it
>So what was it?
...
>You decide that you've had enough of this place for today
>You take what you can get from the woodpiles/corpses you'd made
>7 herbs, 2 might seeds, and an adamant seed
>Not too shabby, all things considered
>After you're done with your gathering, you slowly trudge your way along the path back to town
 
>You walk on the path for a couple of hours, and finally you see the way back to town
>And it's absolutely teeming with those horrible blue plants you've been searching for
>Poison Joke
>Did you waltz right through them on your way into there?
>You had to have, this is the way you entered the forest
>All the extra time you spent in the damned forest and they were right. Fucking. THERE!?
>You walk up to the large group of flowers, and violently rip one of them straight from the earth, roots and all
>You thrust your arm into the air, still clutching the plant in your balled fist, and yell at the sky
"I don't know what you're planning, Princess, but I'll be damned if you think you're gonna get the better of me today!"
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjEU9PKEYrI
>A little overly dramatic, but fuck it
>You got your ass kicked looking for this shit
>You almost DIED looking for this shit
>When you get back to town, you're getting your 'bits', finding the nearest fucking bar, and getting shitfaced
>...
>Oh, right
>AFTER you've gone to the spa and gotten whatever nastiness this plant causes washed off of you.
>You've got enough problems without abberant shit happening to you during a hunt just because
>You begin the trek back into town, heading for the library