tacobob

The red mare grinned back at draconequus, "I'd usually say if you hadn't brought your umbrella, it would have rained all day, but the Pegasi of Ponyville made sure there was going to be perfect weather for a perfect wedding so they were all out there getting rid of the clouds earlier today. Even my folks and lil' sister were out there helping out.". Once Wind Walker freshened herself up and got her dress on, she would hopefully get here just in time for the ceremony. And what sort of gift would Discord have? Hopefully a gift card. One that did not try to eat the brides. Ah, the mare's name was Berry Punch. "Heh.", she let out a chuckle, "I could never even picture my father, the 'Old Major' pushing a shopping cart through the local Cantermart while Muzak played on in the background. Nope. He'd probably lose it after a few minutes after trying to figure out what the difference was between ketchup and catsup.", She did raise an eyebrow when the sneaky serpent tossed some garlic into a bowl. She was about to say something but stopped when she noticed a familiar pony via the corner of her right eye. Tempest Shadow, the traitor. The mare who got away from justice. Fire Walker quickly pushed such thoughts from her mind. This was a wedding. Happy thoughts. And besides, she did not know the full story. There had to be more than what she knew. Tempest might have had reasons to do what she did. Thankfully happiness did appear in pony-form. There was the always impressive Fluttershy, Applejack's big and handsome brother, and the farmer's first foal, Zap Apple. "As his mother would say, he's cuter than a speckled pup under a wagon with his tongue hanging out." Did Applejack say that? Or was it the grandmother? Maybe even little Apple Bloom said that? Huh. She simply smiled back at the small group of ponies And then there was her fiancé who was being extra-Swifty today. "Well, considering how many weddings I've been to, I'm probably an expert by now,", she leaned into the nuzzle. There she caught the stallion looking at the broken horned-unicorn. "Relax.", she whispered, "Don't worry about her Swifty..We're just here two celebrate the coming together of two very special ponies. No drama. I'm sure she'll be good." She spied a pony deserving of praise, "Archancellor Bluebelle.", the red officer bowed her head, "Lovely to see you as always." Good gravy! There were too many attractive mares here! From Fluttershy's perfection, Bluebelle's regal magnificence, and even Tempest Shadow's menacing, haunting beauty! Compared to those mares, Fire felt rather old and ugly. Somepony was going to confuse her for Swift's mother. Or grandmother. Or make her sit in the 'mule's section'.

"Nothing like the present to start a good habit.", The red mare kept her voice down low. "My hubby-to-be is a total teetotaler and while I could never really give it all up, I probably could cut it out for the moment, considering I also have a little one on the way as well." She was still way too early to be able to use the 'I'm eating for two!' excuse considering her kid-to-be was the size of a bit. "Thankfully he, or she will be out long before next year's 'Taste Of Ponyville' starts. I heard they'll be doing Apple Cider Mules and I can't miss that.", her whole family loved Mules. During her brother Walk's wedding, her family completely wiped out the restaurant's vodka and ginger beer supply. "I'm pretty sure I've seen you more than once. Can't say I remember your backside." Ugh! What was her name? Berryshine? Pinot Noir? Or was it Berry Punch? "Lived in Canterlot before I came here. Both my parents and kid sister live her as well. I..." She stopped. She had that odd feeling and there was a familiar scent in the air. "Hello Mister Discord." she had a feeling he would show up. Grape juice? Fire wondered if the powerful creature could even get drunk? Of course, the things alcohol does to the brain. from feeling more impulsive, less anxious, and less restricted. This was something Discord already felt. "Excuse me.", she was always rather polite to the odd looking creature, "I was wondering if you could help a lady find her dear Swift Squall, my most dearest and dapper Draconequus? I'm hoping he isn't bugging Princess Twilight, or even Applejack!" He was a goof, a sweet goof, but even he would not dare bug a bride before her wedding!

Smolder glanced over at at Silverstream as she spoke. Good question, but probably not the best way to ask it, aka it being 'weird'. Which it was. But they lived in a world where many things could be considered 'weird'. It wasn't that long ago that she would have considered anything ponies did as 'weird'. Smolder had also considered asking how the transformation went. Was it a nice and safe POOF? Or did she shift back into her male form bit by bit. Would it be painful? This she did not need to know. She would push this image into her mind. Bluebelle shouted 'Shimbaree, Shimbarah, Shimbaree, Shimbarah' or maybe even, 'Izzy wizzy, let's get busy!' and a magic poof of magic would magic into the air, and magic her into a him. That's it. Nothing like that one werewolf movie she saw last year. The young dragon nodded her head as she spoke about gold-diggers. "I completely understand.", Smolder spoke as like someone who had been through the same thing. "During the last dragon migration I completely shattered old Belchgutt's record by letting loose a burp of over a hundred and eleven decibels! I nearly blew the scales off my brother!", she could not help but look a little on the proud side. "After that, EVERYONE wanted to hang around with me, which was cool at first with dragons hanging on my every word and offering to do stuff for me, but it got old very quick. Mostly they wanted to know my secret, and that was a cold can of Nozz-A-La Cola! Drink that really quickly, then you need to eat an apple, also quickly, jump up and down, and Walla! You got yourself a big ol' burp!" She thankfully, did not actually act this out. After that PERFECTLY proper talk to a member of royalty was over, she listened to the dreaded secrets of her transformation! Was it a magic word? Magic Sword? Did it only happen on the second full moon of the third month? Nope! It was her choice of coffee or tea! Smolder tried to avoid coffee as it made her need to avail herself to the little girl's room and as dragons would say, dig for Andalusites! "Well.", she actually had a question to ask, "Since dragons are slowly getting closer to the pony way of thinking in some areas, like relationships and marriages and families and such, how do you know when a guy or gal likes yah?"

It was her second year at the academy where they taught defense against mind control. Even non-unicorns needed to study and learn how to defend themselves from nasty magic. And unlike unicorns, they couldn't just throw up a magic shield. There were other ways. Never looking directly at the spell-caster. Never concentrate on what they are saying. Ugh. There was so much more! And they learned about those who could use such spells, from unicorns to great beasts. Even horrible aquatic spirits that could put you under their control and drag you into the sea. "Huh?", Fire Walker allowed herself to be slack, making it far easier to be moved, or pushed into the bushes. Where she tumbled far longer than she really wanted to tumble. "Ouch.", the Pegasus pony groaned. She was going to be hurting tomorrow. Thankfully she was very sure nothing broke. Did she see anything odd? Besides the stars that were circling her head, she didn't see a thing. "No..I wonder if our valley girl friend has something to do with this. She is a Siren after all." The red mare really hoped it wasn't her. "We should be sneaky and find the creature that is controlling everyone. Usually if you knock out the puppet-masters, all the puppets go free." But first they needed to know where they were.

Oh how things have changed so much over the last few months. At the start of the year, Fire Walker had moved to Ponyville to accept a position at the castle and become part of Princess Twilight’s special guard. And then a good deal of craziness came crashing in. There as a battle and now Twilight was ruler of all of Equestria, and the red mare was back in the R.E.A. Her own wedding was quickly rushing towards her and she was now with foal. Thankfully this foal was the size of a penny. Still, the fact that she learned all of this from a valley girl siren just seemed to make sense for her way of life. She still made sure to visit her doctor once she and the others got back from their mission. And now she was attending the wedding of a pony she considered the bravest, and toughest country gal that ever roamed Equestria and also Rainbow Dash. She was a decent sort. The officer’s fiancé was supposed to be here. Whew. She was beat. And thirsty! Thankfully there was some food and drink prepared like some juice-bowls. But she could not just go willy-nilly into these. She had to ask. Thankfully there was a mare who looked like an old college friend of hers named Pinot Noir was she one of the caterers? "Excuse me miss.", she made her way towards the mulberry coated mare, "Are any of these non-alcoholic? I need to watch what I'm drinking...And also any without mango? I'm really allergic to that." The rather worn out looking creature really needed to just sit down and chill for a moment. This was not her wedding. She was just a guest.

Ponies had celebrations for EVERYTHING. Some made sense. There was Nightmare Nights, which was her favorite. Creatures could dress up in all kinds of costumes and there was free candy. The local movie theater also sold cheap tickets for fun old horror movies. Hearth’s Warming was also fun with the decorations, food and gifts. The movies were not as good, as most of them either one where the 'Gift Givers' reindeers can't give out presents due to some silly excuse, or a movie where a busy business pony is too busy with business to handle his or hers kids and holiday demands! Oh no! Will busy parent spend a day with his or hers kids or finish the deal with the Dinklebirds!? And there was also the stress over being an 'Hearthswarming Helper' and not doing a joke gift. Although Gallus did look really cute in his lederhosen that was two sizes to small. Maybe slapping him on the but while shouting, "Tanz für mich Vogel junge!" might have been a bit too much. There was also this 'Summer Sun Celebration' which was a thing. There was also a event going on in the castle. She knew her friends Silverstream and Gallus were here. Did they invite her to tag along? Nope. Hmm. They have been spending a good deal of time together. What could that mean? She slowly entered the garish building. Did she smell fire? Could anything actually burn in this place? Everything was made of crystal! Even the toilets! Well, there were at least potato skins. She liked those! Nice overcooked half a potato loaded with cheese, crispy hay sticks and sour cream! Yum! Now where were the others? Was she going to find her pals hiding in a room somewhere giving each other beak-smooches?

“Dwah.”, the dragon cooed, “His adorable little quirks make him far more appealing. And I tend to maybe.”, she tapped two of her claws together as she spoke, “Sometimes and occasionally might air a minor grievance from time to time.”, she added with a wink, “I don’t do it to be mean or just to hear myself holler, but to correct a mistake. And...”, she paused to take a sip from her mug. “When going to a public pool, I’m actually rather terrified to step on the drain as I’m worried that it might suck me in. Just don’t like them. They’re like jail bars or a gateway to another world.”. She shivered a little bit as she thought of what creatures could live there. Those hairless monkey creatures Spike told her about? There was one thing that the good princess mentioned that confused her so. “Wait a second, you did not get a marefriend until your curse? Didn’t that happen recently? And you were already rather.” Her little Shoulder Angel who now appeared as a white rabbit for some reason shouted ‘Don’t Say Old!’ ,”Well into the early stages of being an adult. If I may ask.”, she moved a little closer to the royal pony, “Why did it take so long? I saw a picture of you as a guy and as we dragons would like to say, you were a bit of a hotty.”

It had been a rather long time since the red coated officer had been in an actual real battle. This was always a good thing, because she believed her job was to keep the peace. Technically she recently had been part of a rather large force of ponies, dragons, gryphons yaks, changelings and many other types of creatures that were asked to stand against the Changeling Queen, Lord Tirek and some small child. She was not asked to attack, but to keep the two villains and one child unfocused by flying really quickly by them. This was successful and the baddies were turned to stone. Something that ended well. She was also later told the kid was a evil kid. Huh. After making sure the others had the right spot to hide, Fire Walker quickly found one of her own. Once the spell was cast and the mercenaries were startled into fleeing into random members of her squad, their foes would be easy pickings. And sure enough, Gleaming Shield's scary snake illusion was terrifying. But something was wrong. Instead of running for the hills, the mercenaries stopped what they were doing and slowly waddled towards the fake snake with their weapons drawn. The way they walked reminded her of a horror movie, a zombie movie. She then noticed something was odd with their eyes. Oh dear. Worried, the officer poked her head, 'They are being hypnotized', Fire mouthed to the farmer. And what creature had the ability to do that?

Smolder snatched up her second sandwich while the others spoke. This was something she both hated and liked during a proper afternoon tea time. Tea-Sandwich-Roulette. There was always a chance she would get something she did not like. Like a herbed onion sandwich. Those always made her gassy, and one never should make a dragon gassy. Of course, she could always either ask the gal who brought the sandwiches, or simply lift up the bread, but where would the fun be in that? "Wow..This is really good..", she was out of her comport zone. This was new to her. So far she tasted mayo, a hint of onion, which was okay and artichokes? Hokey smokes, that was good and she feel slightly embarrassed once she noticed it was already gone. One must savor the flavor and not misbehaver and gobble her tiny sandwich so quickly. "Hmm." Pony names were weird. She was just 'Smolder'. It wasn't a pretty name at all, as with most dragons as they tended to sound more like threats than actual names. "Yeah, I never got that. If you're not going to use that letter, don't have it in your name!" Guy was probably really far on the 'fancy' side. Wordsworth! Ha! Oh right! He was her -younger- sibling, which confused the dragon as he was really tall. Like about the same size as Applejack's 'ayup'n brother. "Eh.", she shrugged her shoulders, "I have not really said that much to your brother, but I wouldn't." Uh-Oh! Don't go there Smolder! Thankfully her very own shoulder-angel that only she could see, appeared before her. No salty sea puns! No innuendos! To be safe, the angel carried a very large rolled up newspaper if the dragon dared to go astray, she would whack her with it! Yes, the dragon was gill-ty! She dolphin-ately wanted to get aboard his ship and..WHACK. "Ouch." It wasn't there, but she could feel it. "I mean,who wouldn't want to hang out with Terramar? He's kind of cute..."

“My clan....The Birzoths left Griffonstone many generations ago.”, the griffon really did not like to be referred to as a ‘hen’. It was a very old and outdated term for a female griffon and was a downright slur when applied to females of the other races. It normally meant a group of busybody chattering old gals. No better than the fowl one would find at a farm. “They tried to keep everything properly maintained after King Guto lost his magic Macguffin to that horrible Cyclops, but the griffons were so heartbroken that it became a lost cause. Like this formerly great city, but I hope you well if you intend on restoring Griffonstone to its former greatness." Something quickly dawned on her. She was here to visit her family, not to conduct business! But she actually wanted to help Griffonstone. "I really appreciate the offer, Emperor Norton Breakbeak the First.", she gave another quick bow. "I came here to see this gal and her aunt, so how about we postpone our little meeting until, possibly tomorrow? I'll get some good sleep tonight and will be ready for your ideas tomorrow...I know a good way to restore old statues and not make them look brand new...Stone statues that is.." She was will aware that most of the great bronze Griffonstone statues were either stolen and moved out of Griffonstone or simply melted into bars and sold. She silently hoped that the great bronze of Princess Greta had been stolen and not melted as it was considered one of the grandest statues to ever grace any kingdom. She was also very aware that her sweet cousin was very unsupportable at the moment and there was no reason to stress her out. "Begging that I have no intention to insult you or your upcoming work, I and only I will see you tomorrow." She was not going to drag poor Gillian into this. "We can work out some details and by then, I should have some useful ideas of my own." They REALLY needed to abandon the whole 'nest on trees' theme as it was so dangerous! Either go with traditional homes like the cute ones in Ponyville or the stone homes from Canterlot. Or maybe even build artificial trees to keep the old look...Oooh! She had so many ideas! Once Norton gave his answer of either 'no' or 'yes, she gave the older griffon a fond good-bye (with another bow) and it was off again with her cousin. "Sorry Grilly.", her ears drooped down as she spoke, "Let's head over to the house if you wish.."

“Oh, there we go. A nice cave.” Maybe if they were lucky, this cave belonged to a friendly and very fuzzy bear who wouldn’t mind a little friendly snuggle, which would keep them all warm till the next day. Or maybe this was a cave that had been explored before, and maybe there were leftover supplies they could use. Or this cave had one of those lakes inside filled with fish! Yum! Of course her new little pony pals didn’t eat such a thing and claw-made sushi probably would mess their stomachs up! As they made their way to the soon to be shelter, the griffon stumbled a bit. “The heck?” She glanced down at the ground and noticed the skull of her ‘friendly bear’ looking up at her with a permanent frown on its boney face. This was not a good sign. She turned to the others with a look of utter horror before she continued on. They were now in the cave. While it was still cold, it was far more bearable than outside due to the lack of wind. And did she have a light? The blackbird ran a claw into her pockets. She still had a full bottle of root beer, which contained all the necessary ‘sass’ one would need. Used ticket was still there. Perfect for the scrapbook! She noticed her key-chain was a plastic disc with the words ‘I Got Knocked Up At Fart-Knockers!’ Along with the logo, there were two ponies with big grins on their faces who were dancing together. Little stink lines were coming from their backsides. This was a terrible single’s bar she visited recently. And no, she did not get ‘knocked up’. She choked on some really bad and skunky beer and nearly broke a tooth on some stale pretzels. And she also decked a guy when his hoof got a little too close to an area unwelcome hooves were not allowed. Along with the terrible memories with the key-chain, it also had a very tiny light, which she turned on. It was very tiny. Was it made for mice? Defeated, she pushed the key-chain back into her pocket. Hey! There was something of interest! “Looks like someone was actually hear before.”, not that far from where they stood was a campfire and up above there was a large hole in the ceiling of the cave that served as ventilation. Someone built it right under the hole so the smoke would exit the cave and not inside the cave. Good News at last. “Were any of you ponies ever Filly Scouts?”,she asked.

Once the good Archancellor's tea was properly prepared, Smolder turned to add a bit of milk and sugar to her own cup. "Mmmmm.", she purred after taking a 'test sip'. Perfect aroma and deep flavor with a nice little bonus of sweetness. Perfect days start with this sort of flavor. She could never be in a bad mood with a cup of Earllaurung's best. The dragon smiled as the Hippogriff spoke about her little purple pal. "Spike is probably one of the smartest dragons I've ever known.", the young creature added. "I could fully understand considering who his adoptive mother is. And he did just go through the 'molt', which is absolutely horrible. And not a proper subject to bring up with such pleasant conversation.", she added with a wink, "But the poor kid thinks he's gone through it all, but he still has puberty, which is coming up in a few years. That takes the horrors and smells of the molt and adds a heaping dose of awkwardness and goofiness.", she took a short sip from her mug.Spike was probably also either her brother or a very close cousin. Take two perfect dragons and you'll get a 'Princess Ember' while your typical cousins will get a 'Crackle' who looked less like a dragon, but more like dragon costume suitable for two adult ponies. 'I.", who the heck were these creatures Silverstream mentioning? Zesty? Who names their kid Zesty? Chiller? Was she making this all up? "Grubber? Guy gives me the willies, the Jibblies, the heebie-jeebies and the screaming meemies, all at once.", she was pretty sure that annoying creature was one of Princess Twilight's magical 'oopsies'. She accidentally hit a kick-ball with one of her spells and ended up with that weirdo. Silverstream really had some low expectations for Smolder's future boy or girl toys. Freaking Grubber! Century long wars had started over lesser insults! "Ocellus wouldn’t be a bad choice at all..Considering she could be just about any creature that she had seen before and her own original form is beyond cute.", Smolder could not help but frown as the agile bird dodged her question once again. But she knew there was one thing that would make her pay attention. "Now don't get mad or anything, but is your brother Terramar going to attend our school? I could see him being a good study buddy." Smolder let out a chuckle. A dragon of class? She attended class, but was she fancy? "I'm familiar. Usually I get the steamed milk and vanilla...And.", she playfully groaned, "She's just dodging my question. Like that little bird. Look as she darts about.". She had a question to ask the very royal pony. "And your royal blood...Are you related to Princess Celestia or Princess Platinum? That's something I've been curious since Ember dragged me to Ponyville."

Fire Walker nodded as she listened to their scout. A temple. She silently wondered what sort it would be. A traditional, holy one that had been long abandoned and converted into a hangout for villains? Or maybe it’s like the temple the red coated officer discovered while training with Lady Lanceguard and Steel Dagger. That was an horrible underground temple of horror! The bone filled Ossuary still haunted the mare's dreams. Hopefully it won't be one of those. And finally, there's always the silly Daring Do type temples. Usually themed as a spooky skull or pyramid or something that did not make a lot of sense. The officer was pretty sure A.K. Yearling didn't bother to do any real research but just simply swiped some of her story ideas from old 'Hardy Colts' mystery books. The Pegasus did not see it yet, but she would be rather disappointed to see that it was a silly Daring Do type temple. A pyramid with a big monster face and lots of stairs all carved out of a mountain. It was more of a 'Play Set'. Probably comes with all what is seen here. Sturdy plastic build. Lights light up! Experience six different types of scary sounds! Special trap door! Rolling boulder! Trap that sends foes flying! 'Ssssssee you later, Lord Snakeface!'. They need to get into that temple play-set! They could fight, but they were five against twelve. It could work. Brickhouse could easily steamroll over several foes. Fire Walker was trained to fight against multiple targets. If there were a few standing close to each other, Shield could nail them with a sleep spell. Fire was well aware of Applejack's fight against the Changelings during Shining Armor's wedding. She managed to take on a whole slew of foes. Of course they were stopped eventually. There was also a chance that the guards would alert whoever was in the temple and then there would be more to fight. "Hmmm.", she 'hmm'ed'. "These fellows have been hanging around outside for probably a while. Only hearing their fellow guards or the strange sounds on this island. Maybe we could freak them out a bit. Even use some of your illusion spells.", she nodded at Gleaming Shield. "Scare tactics..Might freak them out so much that some might scatter into the woods...Or they might be easier to pick off.". Fire Walker's twin 'punch daggers' were made to disarm and knock out her foe, not injure. " We leave one conscious that our good friend Brickhouse could get some answers from. These are probably all sell-swords that are here just for the bits and might not have any real alliance to whoever is in the temple. Does anypony have any suggestions?", she whispered.

While she was not sure what an ‘Archancellor’ was, it sounded royal and possibly important, so Headmare Bluebelle could only do with Earllaurung's best tea. The young dragoness picked up her strainer and placed some of her leaves into it. After pouring the right amount of hot water into it, she sat it down somewhere safe. Along with the tea, she had some sugar and honey packets next to an small plastic creamer. She remembered the first time she tried milk in her tea. The dragon had been told it would help mellow and smooth the flavor, even pushing away the more bitter taste of her favorite tea. She really wished no-creature had told her where this milk actually came from. "Spike?" What about him? She did care deeply for the little guy, but as potential mate? "He's a great little guy, but that’s the problem. He's a little guy as in a kid.", she tried to picture what an older Spike would look like. He was such a tiny little fella. Hopefully he will be introduced to lifting weights when he is older. She was pretty sure Canterlot had a really good gym. "And this is all very new to dragons. Dating. Stuff that goes on in dating.". Smolder found an book on dating last week, but It was VERY old. It involved something called a 'sock hop' or 'hootenanny'. The stallions in her book had weird, very short manes and the mares wore pearl necklaces, cat eyed glasses and beehive manes. Dragons did not even hug each other until recently. Her brother was now the patron saint of this for some reason. "From the very little I know.", hopefully the others were not lurking around in the bushes as she would die of utter embarrassment if others heard her say what she just said, "When we're this age, you are usually not looking for a potential, life-long mate, but someone to be just more than friends, I guess. Friend that you can smooch. ", she shrugged. "So it wouldn't have to be another dragon." There were not any male dragons she knew of that would suitable for smooching. Her brother's friends were all hideous, both physically and mentally. She needed a dragon version of Terramar. He is, as they say, 'muy guapo.'. Shame he wasn't attending school here. But in Seaquestria! Smolder also knew she did not have to stick just to the opposite sex for her dating needs. But there was something that was bothering her. "So, who is this someone?" She was not sure what the giggle was for. She didn't want to hurt Hippogriff's feelings. But she was HORRIBLE at faking a laugh. Fake giggling would be twice as bad a not giggling at all. However, the smile she had on was genuine. She really was curious who was invited to the all day and night Silverstream-Snog-Feast.

Oh how Smolder dreaded picking other creature’s teas! She knew if the wrong flavor was served the whole break would be ruined! Most here were generally polite to a point and would drink (or pretend to) the entire cup even if they hated the flavor. But she would know. There were all kinds of tells she would notice. Really overdone smile. The constant ‘WOW! This is REAAAALLLY GOOD’ or ‘Yum Yum’ while rubbing their stomachs. This would be followed by a ‘look, isn’t that Princess Celestia?’ When she would turn to look and notice that there was no royal princess to be seen, her companion’s tea was always gone. At least with dragons, they would be honest. Her brother would shout ‘THIS IS GARBAGE! BLEH!’, spit out the offending drink and then proceed to stomp on his glass while shouting out the drinks he would prefer to have drank. Swamp water. Sulfuric Acid. Bleach. Still, Coconut Macaroon was probably her best best bet. According to the mare, this tea had real bits of coconut and hints of almond add a fresh, invigorating flavor to the perfect blend of rich black tea and earthy honeybush. Once the water was ready, she got the bird's drink read, "Just let them steep for a moment.", she whispered before she started work on her old favorite. As the magic was made, Silver had a rather interesting question to ask. The dragon snatched a cucumber sandwich and took a decent bite out of it as she listened. "Very good.", she kept her voice down low. This was really tasty! Far better than her attempts. Maybe she used fresh ranch dressing? Smolder generally went with Mayo and dried herbs. She asked if she had feelings for anyone? Like beyond the usual friendly feelings she would have for her fellow students. "Eh.", she grunted, "Can't say I do....There's just certain things I like doing with you guys...I like joking and messing about with Gallus as he always has the best reactions to stuff. Ocellus is always the one to go if I just wanna relax and chill out. Sandy is a pretty good study-buddy...Yona is always good if you wanna just run amuck and knock stuff over as sometimes you gotta let go.. And then there's you..", she smiled at the Hippogriff, "Party girl and probably the most feminine of our bunch..", she paused to think before asking, "How about you?" This question had to wait as the Headmare was here. Oh-Oh, were they in trouble? No, but she wanted to share a bit of tea with them. "Oh, hey um, Headmare Bluebelle..I do have my backup cup here..Somewhere." she dug a claw into her backpack and rummaged about until she found it! It was a festive red mug, which she handed over. "I have some teas here...Peppermint....Red Velvet Cake..And Earl Grey...."

“Yep.”, the dragon patted the bottom of her pack as she followed the Hippogriff through the courtyard. She acquired the special R.E.A tea kit during last year's 'Hearth's Warming Eve Ponyville Gift Exchange'. It was a special kettle that could easily be heated up with a simple spell or an tea candle. Thankfully she would use her own magic, a simple dragon shout of 'Vor' would do it. As they walked on, smolder let out a sigh of relief. She was apparently getting the calm and cool Silverstream today as opposed to the hyper and bouncy bird most were used to by now. She was like Gallus, but without the sass. This wasn't the strange girl that was going to sneak up on her and bite her on the tip of her tail as a joke. Ouch! This bird was as cool as a cucumber. "Just to be safe, I actually have some different teas.",she pulled out a small wooden box. "I have some peppermint straight from Fluttershy's garden. Goes great with honey...And Miss Cake was selling packets of Coconut Macaron tea at her shop along with something she claims tastes just like Red Velvet Cake." She was a simple dragon and preferred only the best tea ever. One created by the great Grey Dragon, Earllaurung or as he was better known, 'Earl'. She nodded her head and soon they were under a rather old looking tree. The tea kit was simple to set up and after emptying two bottles of warm drinking water and a very safe 'Vor', the kettle was soon full of hot water. Smolder pulled out two sturdy R.E.A. marked field cups. "So, what would you prefer to drink? The stuff I got from the Cake's is supposed to be sweet.."

“I do see those eyes.”, Fire Walker scooted closer to the downed filly and continued to make sure the venom was still flowing out. Whatever it was, if it intended them harm, it would have to go through the officer first before it could get to little Apple Bloom. Could this be the creature that poisoned the little farmer? She waited for the next move. So far, it appeared the eyes were more of a creature that was curious, not threatening, but looking at her little group. Thankfully if it was a animal, they had things covered with Fluttershy.

Oh no! While she normally enjoyed the soothing stomping sounds of her favorite Yak of all yakdom as she stomped about all of Equestria, the young dragon really wanted Yona to keep all four hooves planted in Princess Luna's special sleepytime kingdom! A old, but clever scheme popped up, but was quickly smooshed back into nothing. She briefly considered the old 'It's only a dream' scheme. She could pretend Yona was not actually awake, but was still sleeping and dreaming all of this! This was a fun trick she tried on her brother when she was really young. He woke up early one day and she convinced him that he was dreaming. Instead of curling back up and getting more sleep, he threw of his pajamas and stormed out of their cave hoping to cause some mischief that would not have any consequences. There would be a good deal of consequences they both would face shortly after. "And Smolder.", the dragon did not like to be left out. "Hey Yona.", the dragon's eyes narrowed down just a little. Did she have a clever plan? "Along with best at never bathing, our good friend Gallus here said he was best at sleeping. I bet you can prove him wrong. You know, by sleeping? Eh? Eh?", she waggled her eyebrows up and down. Hopefully her 'clever plan(tm)' will get the loud, stomping yak to get back to bed and win the completion! Then they could get back to whatever they were doing. The dragon already forgot. Hopefully it involved sneaking over to the local theater and catching that movie she wanted to see.

That should be fine.

"I never met her, but I've seen her more than a few times. Impressive flyer. Not a fan of the hair...Eh, it's too much.", she added as she scanned the area for somewhere to stop at, "I have hung around with some of her companions, mostly with the earth pony, an rather impressive gal named Applejack, along with her rather yummy big brother. My heart was broken when he got ma...oh..", she stopped her beaky yammering when she was interrupted. Oh. This was not good. Zelda really did not like to be interrupted when she had food on the brain. But what sort of restaurants did they have here? Did they have any health codes to follow? Would one need to wash the rubble before and after cooking each meal? She had a feeling she would see an old 'friend'. Back in her poor college years, she got stuck with her usual meal of Ramen and a VERY off brand canned Gefilte fish, called 'Paskudnik's Fish In A Can', which was a poached mixture of pickled herring, boiled carp and the rest was a mystery. It tasted horrible, but it was really cheap and filling. She recalled one of her school friends when she took a bite out of her meal. Poor Docket went from white to green in seconds. The be-mustachioed griffon was the emperor? Griffonstone still had one of those? Seriously? Zelda glanced over at her cousin to catch her reaction. Was he the real deal, or was this bird trying to rip her off? He was going to stick out his claw for coins. That was the running joke here. "Yep, I'm her cousin.", the black bird replied. While she might live to regret it later, the feisty female gave the maybe royal griffon a proper bow. "I am Griselda or just 'Zelda', formally of Rockwington, now of Canterlot, where I am a Royal Blacksmith. And also a sculptor. I hoped to view and create full sized versions of the statues here in hopes to make proper copies before the originals crumble into dust and.", she made sure to add, "To see my super-fast cousin." He obviously wanted something. She was guessing, it was small, round and made up (mostly) of gold. "And how could I be of aid to you, good Emperor?", she gave another bow. She was a very proper sort.

The black bird grimaced. They had just left the train, but it already felt like a whole year had gone by! "Oh yeah, whatever we do, we need to stay near the tracks. Not only would we be able to not to get lost, if the railroad sends a cart for us, they'll find us a lot quicker than if we wander away. Which would be bad", she groaned. She was not ready to do all this talking! She had a nap that had been coming up, but now she was out and about and it was obvious she was now a full time shlimazel, a gal with no luck. No luck in love and no luck in life. "Thanks, but I'll be fine for the moment.", Zelda responded to the green maned mare, "I have a pretty thick coat of fur and feathers, and this actual coat. But if it keeps getting colder, I might need something later on.", she started to push herself as the track started to move upwards. Thick coat. Thick feathers, and she had gained a few pounds during her exile. If worse comes to worse, the two ponies could always eat her. She kept an eye on the track and another for any sort of area they could rest in. A cave. Maybe even an abandoned house. She had heard there was an old village not that far from here that had long been deserted. Most say it was that once the railroad had been finished, the opportunities had dried up and everypony moved on. But there was also another story. One of curses and horror!