Stainless Steel Fox

If he got stuck, he can't follow youthrough the smoke. You're on your own.

Horseshoes of Corruption? A set of black iron horseshoes chased with silver inlays and crimson gems that drain the life and magic from the land they touch and use it to empower their wearer? Sounds like a fanfiction idea...

You decide. Or roll a D100 (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20040517a). The chance of getting hitare about 30% for a pegasus, 50% for an Earth-pony or unicorn. Your chances of making it through the smoke without getting caught are about 20%.

My Nerdy moment was definitely Luna, though Scoot/Dash development came close. Question is, does Luna consult with other dream defence specialists? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTeGr8CRips Luna could so kick Zordrak's scaly butt!

Just so you know, this isn't over, in fact the fun bit is just about to begin.

"Ha! You prissy little pegasus! You really think you could find us? We Red Talons go where we please, and no-one can follow us!" The nearest griffon exclaimedwiping rubarb crumble off her face. "Let's beat them back and bail! we've got what we came for!" one of the others called. "We can still take this tub!" The she griffon called. "Well if you want to tell Captain Hookbeak you're disobeying orders..." The other griffons were already pulling back. The femaile griffon gave a screech of frustration. "See you around... pony!" The last word was spat with great venom, even as one of the other retreating griffons dropped a tube into place from across his back and fired it off. The corridor in front of them vanished in a cloud of black smoke and gummy balls that splashed on the floor and walls, gluing anyone hit by them into place. &&& "Captain Shipshape!" The periscope watch called. "The warbird, it's withdrawing!" The captain gave a deep sigh of relief, even as he looked puzzled. He could see for himself the griffons streaming away from the stricken liner, and the warbird itself releasing it's harpoons and turning away. "But they have us! Maybe they saw a Royal Guard patrol vessel approaching... No matter, I need damage and casulaty reports from all over the ship!" His subordinates worked with calm efficiency, and the reports came in. "Both engine rooms held, but our starboard wingsails are out of action, and Chief Engineer Hackwrench estimates it#ll take them a couple of hours to fix them." "Cargo area are was overrun, looks like they got everything that wasn't loaded with a crane. Loadmaster and his watch got out okay." "Liftbag stations had to fight off a sally, but they unhooked a lift gas feed and blew the attacking griffons away! All four gas bags report nominal, all stabilister balonettes are operational." "Lore Scroll holds the main dining hall. It was looking bad until Prince Blueblood and his guards took a hoof. Looks like the entire passenger complement turned on the boarders, no serious casualties among the passeners or pursurs staff reported." "The pursers office is ransacked, looks like they got all the cash and gems." "Second class cabins are untouched, but the first class... sweet Celestia's shining wings, they stripped the whole deck, even the Royal suite." The captain winced at that. This was not going to make him particularly popuular with the prince. "Get pegasi off to Garden Gait, Cloudsdale, anywhere they can scare up a Royal Guard patrol, and we're going to need a repair ship..."

(OOC: Oh goody! This is just too perfect. Didn't Blueblood make some comment about being sufficiently noble to make anything look fashionable? And with Valen wanting to cross-dress but being scared of what people would think... Also, I believe that Rarity is incapable of making anything less than a fine piece of work, even as a joke.) "This..." He brushed the flowing locksa to the side with a hoof, not wanting to risk more magic. "... is due to a misfunctioning Tonic Mane Groom spell, as I assume a fashionable pony would be aware... so I'd better explain. Using magic on your mane is tricky because of your horn. If the magic contacts it, you get a positive feedback loop and... well, this happens. I was making sure my mane would be perfect for the trying on..." He examined the dress more closely. It was an impressive piece of work, especially for a prank. Consiidering he lived in Canterlot, that was saying something, as he regularly saw very fancy gowns. Interested despite himself, he started to analyse it. He was, after all something of a connoisseur of fashion, and a mare's dress could tell you just as much about her as a stallion's suit. "At least you have the right colours. Not that they're ones I'd pick, a stallion wears darker tones, but if I were a mare, the blue and purple would set off my white and gold colouration nicely. And despite the fact that it's scaled for me, it doesn't ride high in the flank, how... ah, a false line in the cut across the withers. It fools the eye into adjusting the underlying shape. It even gives me curves where I don't have them." He examined one of the seams. "The hoof stitching is very fine, but a back stitch when the ruffles that depend on the pattern would normally call for a top stitch? Unless you were making a deliberate shout out to Prancian modes of the last century where ruffles used a cloudwave fold rather than a regular seawave... of course! You were on a deadline and the base of the ruffling is covered by the ribbon, so the difference is un-noticable. Ingenious..." The over-long mane flopped over his eyes again. "Hmph! May I trouble you for a pair of scissors? I'm not going to risk more magic on this fringe."

(OOC: Ye gods! I've been busy with Christmas preparations and the dice and paper RP I've been running, but I didn't realise it had been a weeks since I cheked this!) The griffons were easy to find as they reached the balcony of the dining hall as the group of ponies reached the top of the stairs. They were halted by pie volleys from the main floor, as the reamaining cooks brought out desert in a good cause. The pause was enough that the ponies could gain the balcony rather than having to fight their way up onto it. However, the pair of griffons Muggo Ale had fled had been joined by three more, all wearing looted jewellery and whatever they'd been able to find in the cabins they'd broken into.

They may have video games, as we saw at the start of Hearts and Hooves day. A magical computer with a projected holographic screen would be very cool, and well within their capabilities as they've shown multiple times they can cast full colour projected illusions. You'd probably have a printer daemon, a literal imp that drags a quill across a page of parchment.

I loved this one too. If I understand it there are two Stephen King references with the shop full of needful things and the moutgh removal. One thing I havn't seen any-pony comment on yet is about the beavers. Am I the only one who expected Trixie to turn them into gold as a punishment? Trixie: "Do you want to see something strange and mystical?" Fluttershy (in Trixies face) "NO! Get out of here with that amulet, lay off the poor beavers, will ya?! SHEEZE! You're a creep! Go away, we were having a good time until you showed up, Jeepers! ARGH! Go have some coffee with cream, or something! Because I'll tell you something! This is a happy place!" ... I'm sorry.

Two things. Why does the song make me thing of a Scooby Doo episode? Both the song and the visuals. Any Scooby Doo episode. I wrote up my own take on the fact that Babs Seed got away with some pretty nasty stuff and somehow got out of it scot free. It's not so much the redemption as not having to work for it. Too much of that and you get into harry Potter territory, and then you just have to break out the flamethrower. I posted the fic 'Consequences - A Bad Apple Comedy of Justice'. in the writing section.

I'd like to see it all fit together. The history I mean. We have the origin of Equestria, the time of Discord and the rise of the Alkicorns, then the reign of King Sombra and the fall of Luna, but they're all separate events, there's no sense of flow to them. Also it would be nice to see where the multiple kingdoms era was, since the Prince and Princess in the Hearts and Hooves day story were (1) from two different kingdoms, and (2) Earth ponies.

It was possibly unfortunate that Blueblood had taken out a mirror and was doing a magic touch up to his mane when the reveal came. After all, he had to look his best when trying this costume on. He was glad this Rarity had finally seen things the right way, his way in other words. He looked up, then did a double take. "Miss, I think you have the wrong costume. That..." He pointed out the offending creation, "... is a dress. I am a stallion, or hadn't you noticed?" The shock had given his mane lengthening spell a larger pulse of magic than intended, and the result was that his beautifully groomed blond mane spilled down his shoulders untilit hung past his neck. He didn't really notice, still focussed on the ponykin. "Either that or this is some crude attempt at Ponyvillian humour. If I wore that, I'd be the laughing stock of the entire soireee, no all of Canterlot!" (OOC: I just piublished a short story on the fic section, an AU take on 'One Bad Apple'.)

Authors Note: After seeing One Bad Apple, I felt that while the overall idea was good, redemption and not letting yourself become what you oppose, are good morals, Babs Seed was something of a Karma Houdini, doing all those bad things and never getting punished for it. I'm not unhappy with the ending, but I feel she should ahve had to work harder for her redemption. And of course Diamond Tiara always needs a to be slapped down. So I was complelled to write this. Not my best or most carefully plotted out work, but I was running on inspiration. Do I upload it to my fanfction.net page? Applejack was working in the vegetable patch next to the farmhouse when she heard excited voices. She nodded with approval as she saw the four fillies crossing the yard to the barn where the Cutie Mark Crusaders had been building their float for the Summer Harvest Parade. She knew this had been a good idea. Being around a group of fillies who didn't let their lack of a cutie mark dampen their spirits would do poor Babs the world of good. She was proud as apple sauce that Apple Bloom had trotted up to the plate like that, and her two friends with her. They'd gone out of their way to make Babs feel accepted right from the moment they met her, which was exactly what the Manehatten filly needed. Having friends to support you could get you through the hard times, and from her letters, Babs had been having a very hard time being bullied about her own blank flank. Maybe she should bring out a tray of apple juice for the four of the little darlings... She saw some unexpected visitors to the farm. What were those two fillies doing here. Diamond Tiara was not on her list of favourite people, especially after it had become clear that she'd been the ultimate cause of the Gabby Gums fiasco. For that matter she knew about the pairs attitude but had felt it best to let Apple Bloom and the others handle that themselves unless they asked for help. Still, she had a load of vegetables to carry across to the storage shed, so she could pass by and check on them. Babs must be feeling pretty fragile, and those two getting on her saddle was exactly what she didn't need, even if she had Apple Bloom and the others to protect her. As she walked up to the entrance to the barn, she heard raised voices from inside. "More like Cutie-mark cry-babies!" That Manehatten accent, that snicker, that surely couldn't be Babs? "Hey!" She knew her little sister's voice. She heard the whole disgraceful episode unfold. Diamond Tiara egging Babs on, and the Manehatten filly not only going along with it, but going off on her own. She was about to step around into the doorway when there was a crash, and the float came barrelling out to wreck itself at the bottom of the hill. Apple Bloom's voice rang out clear. "When I tell Applejack..." "You're going to tell Applejack what?" Applejack could imagine the new pony stepping up and getting in Apple Bloom's face. "W-well, y'know, uh..." "What're you, a snitch?" Then Diamond Tirara's grating whine exclaimed, "Come on, Babs, you should hang with us! Y'know, the cool ponies, not these babies!" Applejack was already stepping around to stand in the doorway, shadow towards the three 'cool ponies' who suddenly got quite a lot colder. "They don't need to tell me anything! I heard quite enough myself." Diamond Tiara started to edge around the farm-pony but was stopped by a glare. "You and your side-kick can stay right there! I'll get to you soon enough, but I got some things to say to my cousin first!" Babs' cool confident front had vanished like a passing cloud, and she was practically cowering. "I've never been ashamed to call one of my own kin family until just now! You should know better than any-pony what being bullied is like! We took you in hen you were hurtin', gave you a place to stay, my little sister and her friends went out of their way to make you feel at home, and this is how you repay them? The first chance you get, you turn on them!" "Bu... B-but I..." Babs started to tear up. "When you said you'd been bullied in Manehatten about not having a cutie-mark, I figured you'd feel at home here. Land sakes, I figured knowing that there are other ponies who don't have a cutie mark and don't let it get them down would be good for you. Now I'm wondering if that sob story was just a front, and the reason you needed to get out of Manehatten was because you were the bully, and ponies had gotten wise to ya!" "She was bullied?" Apple Bloom asked. "She said she was!" Applejack replied. "But that don't fit the way she just acted." "But I was bullied!" wailed Babs. "I was scared of being bullied when those two appeared, and I... I..." "Joined up with them and bucked dirt in the faces of every-pony who'd tried to help ya. If there's two things I can't stand, it's dishonesty and disloyalty." Applejack finished disgustedly. "Two wrongs don't make a right, and being bullied don't give you the leave to be a bully yourself. I know these two and the way they act. The reason they pal around with each other is because no-pony decent will have anything to do with them, unless Tiara is throwing her money around to buy some popularity." "Hey!" Diamond Tiara exclaimed, stung by Applejack's contempt. "Every-pony knows it, but I ain't your local parenty. Teaching you proper manners is your daddy's job!" Apple Bloom asked, "If you know they're teasing us, why haven't you said something before now?" That got the farm-pony to smile for the first time. "Because up till now you've been handling them pretty well by yourself. Heck, if I'd stepped in when you were panicking about that party, you'd probably never have formed the Cutie Mark Crusaders in the first place. I'm proud of how you deal with things yourself, and I wasn't going to take that away from you. But just so you know, telling some-pony if you need help isn't being a snitch." Apple Bloom beamed with pride, and the other two gave her one hoofed hugs. Applejack had turned her attention back to Babs Seed, and her tone was a lot less friendly. "However, even those two stuck-up fillies have never done anything worse than pass a few nasty remarks. They never damaged any-ponies property, maybe because they knew it'd come back to haunt 'em. "But you just went and wrecked a float that was the result of a lot of hard work by Apple Bloom and the others, and you did it purely because it was the worst thing you could do to hurt them. Worse still some-pony coulda got hurt! I nearly got hit myself! Celestia knows the Cutie Mark Crusaders have enough disasters themselves, but they're accidents, not some-pony out to wreck things." “I never meant to wreck it! I just wanted to dent it a bit...” “Y'all can tell it to your folks back in Manehatten. I'm sending you back there first train tomorrow, and the only reason I ain't doing it tonight is 'cause I need to send your parents a pegasus mail to let 'em know to come pick you up first. I'm going to add a few choice comments about exactly how you acted around here too.” She pointed a hoof at the door. “I suggest you go pack up your things. I was gonna let you sleep with Apple Bloom, but I don't think that's gonna work out. I'll fix up the attic, you can sleep up there for tonight.” Babs slunk off dejectedly in the direction of the house, muzzle almost touching the ground, and Diamond Tiara tried to edge away again. Applejack turned to face her. “And as for you missy, you ain't getting away with this neither!” “But I didn't wreck that stupid cart!” the pink pony whined. “It isn't fair!” “You and that bookend of yours didn't try to stop her, in fact you seemed pretty darned pleased about it. What has my little sis ever done to you anyhow? Huh, if it wasn't cutie marks and my sis, it'd be some-pony else and something else, because the only way you can feel big is if you make some-pony else feel small. Apple Bloom has more moxie, more guts and more gumption in one hoof than you've got in your entire body!” “You can't talk to me like that! When I tell my father...” “Oh, I intend to have a long talk with old Filthy myself, and your momma too.” Applejack interrupted. “He's a decent enough pony and I don't think he'll be best pleased with the way you're dragging his good name through the mud with yer shenanigans “ “But...” Diamond Tiara's eyes widened. The prissy filly knew she was in trouble. But bluster had always worked before. “He'll never believe you over me, I'm his daughter! My daddy's rich, and has powerful friends! You don't want to upset him!” Of course, this worked wonders with Applejack. “The Apple family may not have a pile of bits in the bank, but we've got a lot of friends ourselves, including a bunch up in Canterlot. So don't think you can scare me with the hooey you're spouting! Not that it'll come to that, the Apples and the Riches have been friends for generations. I figure he'll listen when I talk!” Out of options, Diamond Tiara looked past Applejack and fixed Apple Bloom with a basilisk glare. However it was wasted on the farm filly, as she was in a huddle with her two comrades discussing something, and didn't even notice. Applejack did. “Don't think you can take it out on my little sis neither! One more word, one more comment about blank flanks or anything else and you'll wish you were back in only this much trouble. Your dad ain't the only one who wants a piece of our next zap apple harvest! For now, I figure it's enough that you can't get in here to bother my little sis or her friends. This is Apple family land, and you ain't welcome no more, so skedaddle. And don't come back now, y hear?” ”Fine!” Diamond Tiara stamped her hoof. “I never wanted to come to this smelly old barnyard anyway!” Silver Spoon was slightly brighter, not that that was hard, and asked, “But what about the Grand Apple Picnic, or the Harvest feast, or the Nightmare Night Apple-bobbing?” “Like I said, you ain't welcome!” The Apple family hosted a lot of the bigger events in Ponyville, in whole or in part, so that was a pretty serious punishment. Applejack stood aside and pointed at the gates. Diamond Tiara, finally realising that she'd met a tougher pony than she was, stomped off in a snit. Silver Spoon followed in her wake, a lot more subdued and casting gloomy glances back at the guardian earth-pony. It wasn't until the pair were out of the gate that Applejack turned back to the trio, who were now watching her with awed expressions. “Wow! That was totally awesome, amazing and...!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. Scootaloo finished. “... way past cool!” “I didn't enjoy doing it, but acting nice to those two would have taught 'em nothing. They need learnin' that actions have consequences. In this case, that if you buck the Apple family tree, you get a whole bunch of Apple's dropping on you!” “You'd really do that, stop selling Filthy Rich zap apple jam? For me?”Apple Bloom asked uncertainly. She knew enough about the Apple farm's business side that shifting things around would cause a lot of trouble and quite possibly expense. “In a Manehatten minute!” Applejack replied, ruffling her hair. “There are other distributors, but I only have one sister, and I aim to protect her. And that goes for her friends too.” Apple Bloom said, after a second. “About Manehatten, I mean sending Babs back there. We've been talking, and we wanted to ask a favour...” &&& Babs Seed was up in Apple Bloom's room, slumped down on the bed with her head in her hoofs, sobbing softly. How could things have gone so wrong so fast. This had been her life-line, her big chance to escape what was happening in Manehatten, and she'd blown it about as badly as it was possible to do. When the bullies in Manehatten had started on her, her parents had told her to just ignore it.. She'd tried, really she had, but that had just made them bolder, scaring away any-pony who might want to be friends with her. Even the fillies who weren't part of the gang stayed away to avoid drawing the bullies attention, and she couldn't really blame them. She felt a completely irrational burst of anger through her misery. Why did her cousin have to be so eager, so nice with so little reason! She'd been lonely for long enough, that a group of ponies wanting to be friends had scared her, not that she hadn't been nervous already with meeting her famous cousin Applejack. The whole time they'd been hauling her around, showing stuff off, telling her they wanted her in their club, she had been waiting for the other horse-shoe to drop, for them to turn on her, and restore the universe to normal. The idea that the offer was genuine never really occurred to her. Then those two stuck-up witches had turned up, and she was right back in her worst nightmares. She'd panicked and done something monumentally stupid. Another bigger burst of hurt and anger was directed at the fancy-pants fillies. They'd come at the worst time, and their approval at her insulting the other three was reassuring. Things were back to normal, ponies were bullying other ponies and no-pony was doing anything about it, only this time she was on the winning side. Then it had gotten out of hoof. She'd been desperate for more approval, but she really hadn't meant to wreck the float, just damage it a bit. Just enough to seal the deal with her new 'friends'. That had her growling at the Cutie-mark Crusaders again. Why couldn't they build a better float, or at least a tougher one! With that, she figured she'd pretty much burned her bridges behind her, so it seemed easier to keep rolling with it, and it wasn't like she didn't know exactly how bullies operated. Then her roll had come up against a rock called Applejack. She wanted to lash out at all of them, but Applejack's devastating analysis of her actions left her no comfortable place to divert the blame. She'd thrown away what was freely offered, hurt people who wanted to care about her out of fear, just to get in with a pair of ponies she would never have wanted to be friends with in a million years. Her focus turned back to the real author of this mess, herself. If she'd only had a little more courage... no, in the clinch, she'd discovered she was a coward, and the self-loathing burned like acid in her soul. Her parents had never really believed how bad her situation was, and after Applejack wrote that letter, they never would, and neither would any other member of the Apple clan. She was going back to Manehatten, back to the humiliation and pain, and this time there'd be no escape. The worst part of it was, she was starting to think she didn't deserve any better. She considered running away, maybe into the Everfree forest. She might be a Manehatten girl, and know less about wilderness survival than a pet poodle, but being torn limb from limb by rabid timber wolves would still be less painful than what she felt right now. There was a knock on the door, and her younger cousin's voice came through it. “Babs? Can I come in?” The Manehatten filly felt another spike of nager at how gentle her voice was, and that anger made her respond. “Come to gloat? Now you've got what you wanted?” Even as she said it, the heat of her anger turned cold. 'Way to go Babs, if there's away to make things worse, you'll find it!' she berated herself. “I just wanted to talk, and I never wanted you to get sent away like that, but if you don't want to...” “NO! Please, I mean I'm sorry, I'm so sorry and I've been so stupid and it's all gone wrong!” Babs called out in a panic. “I didn't mean to wreck the float, and I shouldn't have sided with those two mean brats, but I... oh, what's the use! There's no way to fix it, fix anything... “ The door opened and Apple Bloom trotted in and came over to the bed. She reached out a hoof and Babs flinched away closing her eyes, but all that happened was the feeling of a fore-leg wrapping around her in a hug. “It's okay, I know what it's like to feel all alone, to be scared like that. I might have ended up as bad as that if it hadn't been for Scoots and Sweetie Belle. I guess we came on a bit too string, huh?” Babs just hunched tighter in on herself, turning away, feeling even worse at the warmth in her cousin's voice. “How can you be so nice to me after what I did! Applejack was right, I'm not fit to be around here! Maybe I am just a rotten apple!” “Applejack once told me what Fluttershy, she's a pegasus friend of hers, said when she was telling off a dragon who'd been snorting out smoke across Equestria and blocking out the sun. 'You ain't a bad dragon, you just made a bad mistake.' I figure if she can tell that to a dragon, I can say that to you, excepting that you ain't a dragon.” “A dragon? Really?” That was a bizarre enough story that it cut through some layers of the shell Babs was building up around herself. A lot of weird stories came out of Ponyville, what with one thing and another but this one took a lot of believing. “Sure as sugar!” Apple Bloom replied. “Ask my big sis, heck, ask any-pony. Anyhow, what I really wanted to talk to you about is a second chance.” Babs' heart leapt at the words, then immediately fumbled it's vault and came crashing back down. “What can I possibly do? Applejack wouldn't believe I was sorry if I got a statement endorsed by the Princesses, Celestia and Luna both!” “My sister can be stubborn as a mule, though come to think of it, the one mule we have around here is about as easy-going a fella as you could wish. However, we convinced her to hold off on that letter and stuff, if you were willing to do something for us.” That made Babs scared again. They were going to put her through the wringer somehow to pay for her crimes... but a part of her actually looked forward to it. However humiliating or unpleasant her penance was, it'd still feel better than what she felt now. Somehow, she knew that whatever dreadful thing she had to do, the offer itself was genuine. Apple Bloom had never lied to her, or tried to trick her, whatever her own fears had told her. “What do I have to do?” she asked, nervously. She heard Apple Bloom chuckle, a sound devoid of the edge Babs' own had taken on when she was insulting them. “Don't sound so scared. It's just we're still down a carnival float, and the carnival is tomorrow. That means an all-nighter for the three of us, and we figured a fourth set of hooves would come in handy. We figured the best way for you to make up for wrecking the first one was to help build the replacement.” “That's all?” Babs was stunned, and her voice showed it. “After how I acted?” Apple Bloom's voice was surprised as hers. “What did you think we were going to do? Ask you to walk through the Everfree blindfolded? Spend the night in the pig-pen? Like I said, I understand what it is to be scared, and lonely and do crazy things because of it,and so do the others. I think my big sister has forgotten that, though truth be told, she was late getting her own cutie-mark. I figure this is kind of neat, the punishment fitting the crime, as Sweetie Belle said. I also figure we'll find out what kind of pony you are at the same time.” Babs couldn't quite believe she could get off this easily, but she wasn't going to let it slip through her hooves. She turned back to face her cousin, hope in her eyes for the first time. “I'll do it! I'll build you your pumpkin!” “No, you won't.” Babs heart crashed, so it was just a trick after all. But before she could say anything, Apple Bloom continued. “We decided a coach made out of a pumpkin was too filly-tale. We'll be building a golden apple, and so will you.” Babs smiled properly for the first time since she'd arrived, “I'll do my very best!” “Glad to have you on-board cuz!” Apple Bloom gave her cousin a proper hug, and this time, Babs hugged her back. It felt wonderful. In fact, she felt a lot better than she had in a long time. &&& The long night of building (with appropriate background music) was over and the four fillies stood back and looked at what they had wrought. The golden apple float looked fantastic. Babs had been better than her word, working twice as hard as any of the others, and the early evening start combined with her extra efforts meant the whole thing had been completed by mid-night, with enough time to catch most of a full night's sleep. “Is this it?” Sweetie Belle yawned. Scootaloo was sagging slightly. “I think... we're good to go!” “Oh pony! Maybe I should have taken up that blindfold walk across the Everfree instead!” Babs puffed, blowing her fringe up. “I ache in places I didn't even know I had!” “Well, we couldn't have done it without you, well, not as fast and not as good. Those were some neat ideas you came up with!” Apple Bloom was as tired as the others, but she was still watching out for her cousin. “I'm going to make sure Applejack knows just how hard you worked, and just how much you went through back in Manehatten. None of us had it half so bad!” “Ohhh!” Sweetie Belle growled. “Those meanies make Dumb Tiara and Silly Spoon sound like cream-puffs! If I ever get my hooves on them...!” “Yeah!” Scootaloo added, “If they give you any more trouble when you go back, let us know and we'll come give you a helping hoof dealing with them.” Babs might be tired, but the warmth of their enthusiastic support still made her feel good. “Thanks guys... Thanks for everything!” “It's the least we could do for a fellow Crusader...” Apple Bloom realised what she'd said and looked around. “Guys, I think Babs has worked her passage, don't you?” “Worked her tail off more like!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “All in favour of making her a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, say Apple!” The vote was unanimous. Sweetie Belle spoke for them. “Then we, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, elect Babs Seed to join us as a sister, friend, confi-day-nte, alley, boss-om buddy, gal pal, compader... what was the rest of it, Scootaloo? Oh, who cares, we can do the official stuff later! The short short version is basically, you're in!” “Well I'm all in for one!” Apple Bloom yawned again, causing something of an epidemic. “We gotta be our best tomorrow, so we'd better get some shut-eye.” She held up her hoof. “Cutie mark Crusaders...” The other two slapped their hooves against hers, and then Apple Bloom looked over at Babs. Her eyes widened and all three fillies nodded in response to the unasked question in them. She stepped over and put her own hoof against theirs. “Cutie Mark Crusaders... HO!” &&& (You should stop here if you actually like Diamond Tiara. Assume the episode ends pretty much as it does in canon. I have zero sympathy for DT, and this is a perfect chance to put the through a humiliation conga. So read on at your peril.) Diamond Tiara glared furiously at the floats as they passed. The happy polka music, the smiling ponies, how dare they all be happy when she was suffering! Applejack had come to see her father, and despite her efforts to explain that it wasn't her fault and everyone else was against her, he'd ended up giving her the worst talking to of her life, and he'd even... sent her to bed without dessert! It was all that Babs Seed's fault anyway! She'd wrecked the float and gotten Diamond Tiara in trouble. The pink filly took a little pleasure in the fact that Babs was going to be punished even worse than she had been. As for Silver Spoon, she hadn't been seen since they left the Apple farm... There she was! At least there was one pony who'd see things the right way. The grey pony came over to her rather hesitantly, but Diamond Tiara ignored that. “I'm glad you're here! Can you believe all this fuss and bother over a few farmers? It's disgusting! Well, at least those Cutie mark cry-babies won't be joining in! Bump bump, sugar lump...” Silver Spoon looked shocked at just how much venom there was in that last sentence, and didn't join in with their signature greeting. “Uh... actually I can't stay... My parents decided you're a bad influence on me, and they've forbidden me to see you in future. They're talking to Miss Cherrilee to get us different seats in class, and I'm not to come over to your place, and vice versa.” For a moment Diamond Tiara couldn't believe it, then she started a furious tirade. “You can't possibly be going along with this! It's that rotten farm-pony Applejack! She's doing all this because her precious little sister had her feeling hurt! She can't tell us how to run our lives! Ohhh! If Apple Bloom thought I was being mean to her before, she'll realsie she didn't even know what the word meant when I'm through with her!” She realised that Silver Spoon was backing away, looking scared. “What? Surely you're not going to just give in? We're best filly friends forever, remember!” The grey pony visibly stopped herself, and replied. “Actually, I am, and not just because of my parents. I never realised it before, but Applejack was right. We became friends because we both liked the same things, fancy clothes and jewellery and magazines, and because your dad loaned mine the money to build up his sugar refinery. “When we started teasing Apple Bloom, I thought we were just showing that just because we were proper girls, unlike her, that didn't mean we weren't tough. But you, you really do enjoy hurting other ponies just to see them hurt! I had a long talk with my parents about who I wanted to be, and I realised that that wasn't it. In fact, I going to work hard not to be like that anymore.” Diamond Tiara was shocked at this new betrayal, and reacted in the only way she knew how. “Fine! Who needs you! I can find some better friends anyway! I don't ever want to see you again either, you pathetic doormat!” Normally a show of temper like that would have had Silver Spoon frantically apologising, but she seemed strangely unmoved. “You know, I figured this would be harder, considering how close we've been, but I realise we never were. I wasn't your friend, just a sounding board and yes-pony. You were the one who decided everything and I just went along with it. “Well not any more! The more I listen to you, the more I realise this was the best thing that could have happened to me! I may not have the qualifications for Apple Bloom's club...” she looked down at her cutie-mark, “... but maybe if I work hard enough at it, they might accept me as a friend. From what I've seen, at least they mean it. Have a nice life.” With that she turned on her hooves and walked away, ignoring Diamond Tiara's increasingly shrill commands and pleading. Diamond Tiara thought she couldn't get any madder, and then she saw a golden apple float, or rather, who was in the cabin. Babs Seed was right there with the three other Blank Flanks, laughing and having what looked to be a good time. She grabbed a carrot crepe loaded with strawberry sauce off a passing vendors tray, ignoring the exclamation of anger from the sales-pony, and flung it like a frisbee with all her might at the offending blank flank. Apple Bloom spotted her just as she launched it. “Uh oh! Incoming!” “Deploy point defence system!” called out Scootaloo. Roger!” Babs replied, and pulled a lever. A hatch popped open in the front of the float, and a worn out tennis racket on a mechanical arm unfolded to pop up in front of the wide front window. It had been restrung with strong elastic bands, and Babs moved the lever like a joystick to manoeuvre the racket to intercept the pancake projectile. The crepe hit and rebounded right back at the pink pony who'd thrown it. She wasn't able to duck in time and with a particularly gooey splat, she ended up wearing it as a face mask. It slid down her muzzle leaving her covered in pureed strawberry. “Nice shooting Babs!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “That was a cool idea!” Apple Bloom asked. “How'd you get so good at that anyhow?” “Playin' the crane games at the fun fair at Pony Island.” Babs explained. Sweetie Belle pulled down a periscope and focussed on the peeved pink pony princess they'd just passed. “Well it worked! Oh my, is her face ever red!” Their merry laughter reached the ears of the pony in question, along with the question from the vendor. “So are you going to pay for that?”

Letting Firewalker respond to Muggo Ale before I advance things.

"I seem to remember someone making a comment about how one should not make baseless assumptions about the livves of others?" Prince Blueblood instantly rejoindered. Ha! Take that! Him, shallow? He was half minded to turn and leave right then in a high dugeon, but no, he was not letting her think she'd drivwen him away. Besides, she was only a common work-pony when all was said and done. Her opinion of his character mattered not one whit. Well, the very fact that she was willing to go horn to horn with him was at least a bit impressive. None of his peers in Canterlot would dare gainsay him like that. "Fortunately enhancing a veneer will not be needed. I am Blueblood, 53rd of the line of the Dukes of Canter, and my nobility goes all the way down to the very core of my horn. However, if you can somehow enhance the obvious brilliance that is already there, I'm sure I will be."

Lore Scroll short stopped the pegasus. "Actually, the bottom level is secure. The engine rooms and access to the bridge are all sealed off. "With our starboard wingsails out of action, those griffons clearly didn't believe they were a priority." He pointed to where Muggo Ale had just dropped down, and where griffons were starting to appear at the entrance to the corridor. "I think we have enough to be getting on with upstairs. Disengaging the grapples they have on us would help too. I'm trying to round up a duty party to fly outside, but tjey'll be exposed to any counter attack the griffons make."

(OOC: Actually, the floor of the dining room (which is amidships) is two levels down. There is the open top deck (which is the roof of the dining hall), an upper residential deck whcih leads to mezzanine balconies overlooking the dining hall, and a lower residential deck, level with the dining hall floor. The kitchen and crews quarters are forward of the dining hall between it and the bridge, while beneath it all is the lowest deck with engine rooms forward and aft, and cargo and lifting gas storage amidships. The grifffons are on the open deck and in the forward upper deck corridor (as Muggo can tell you)

(OOC: As I'm sure you're aware, Dressage is effectively deportment training for horses. You may also have to revamp your post.) Blueblood bridled inwardly at the mare's dig at his manners, and his gift. However, there was a way to turn the tables on her... " Very well, it is one of the standard works on the subject, though now rather rare, but as you are, I assume, in loco parentis to your sister, I can't in good conscience give her a book you don't approve of..." His horn glowed as he started to remove the book, then he looked at the little filly, so pleased with his gift, and his resolve wavered. Dash it, he couldn't dissapoint her just to score points on her big sister, no matter how satisfying it might be. "Maybe we can compromise. Miss Sweetie Belle, you can keep the book for now, but I'm afraid you can't read it until your sister has read through it, and makes sure she approves. Besides, I'm sure she could profitably peruse the pages herself." That last bit was the perfect touch. Now Rarity was the 'heavy' of the piece, and Blueblood the voice of reason. "Now, as you say, I am here to see the clothing designs you've prepared for me. I hope you have something suitable spectacular. The air-ship launch will be attended by the most important ponies in all of Equestria. I simply must look my absolute best. I'm having a deep coat brushing and hooficure especially for the occasion."

Sorry I havn't posted over the weekend. Live Action RP session on Saturday, and was running a sessions of my own dice and paper RP on sunday. Was up most nights last week writing for that. Will try and update tonight.

Firewalker's foe was slammed into the floor as her strike went right through his non-existent defence. However, he was tough enough that he sprang back up, somewhat unsteadily, and prepared to leap back up at her. Then he was his with a faceful of ink, as a dusty crimson pegasus mare wearing glasses and an extremely sensible jumper unloaded a fountain pen at him from above and in front. He staggered backwards, calling for support, only to see the ponies arrayed against him. Kitchen staff with rolling pins and choppers, the unicorn engineers with their horns glowing menacingly, and all the other ponies, ready to buck, banish or bomb objects at him. He quailed. "Retreat!" He and the other griffon disengaged and flew out the window, chaesd by various pieces of crockery, half eaten pies, a kitchen sink and a flowerpot. (Where did that even come from?) The pegasus flew alongside Firewalker. "I don't know if the pen is mightier than the sword, but it appears to be mightier than the griffon. Jessica Fledger at your service, lieutenant." Prince Blueblood strode up, a borrowed top hat covering his becindered mane. "Very good, Leiutenant. I believe there are still some on board though. Deal with it, if you would. I believe some of these ponies wish to help." There were cheers and exclamations of agreement from all around. (OOC: Sturmman, I'm not clear what you did. You're in the middle of a corridor, with a balcony overlooking the main dining hall, at one end (your side) and the bow, the Princes stateroom and stairs up to the VIP section of the upper deck at the other, screened by the psycho griffon chick and several others. There are central stairs from the balcony down to the dining hall, and stairs up to the main deck at the ends of the balcony. Please clarify.)

The griffon was agressive, and getting more so, losing what little temper he had as attack after attack failed to get through her two blade defence. He winged back, and drove forward in an all out attack, leaving a brief open window in his defence. The four griffons who'd been hammered by the table took one look at the charging ponies, and decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and running away was the better part of discreton. They jumped out of the hole in the two story bain window, and flew unsteadily back towards the griffon warbird. The only griffon left in the hall were the two facing Dunder, and the leader. The cutlass weilder squarked a warning to his mate, but the otrher griffon was too busy being pelted by crockery to notice, or at least react effectively. The kick landed and the griffon was flung, screeching in pain, out of the window. The culass weilder was now mostly occupied using it to deflect the hail of objects that were being bucked or levitated at him as the crowd finally started getting behind the counter-attack. Several were cheering on the royal guards as they fought..

In the corridor the griffon staggered back, trying to find her footing. "I'll make your blood leap, all over the bloody carpet!" She bore down on him using her greater size and weight to force her blade doiwn on him, locked beak to muzzle. Firewalker was having mixed success, her punch dagger caught the griffon's blade and lockedit up, but the follow-up strike with her other one was evaded, just barely. The griffon didn't seem to care. "You think that childish move would take me? I'm a griffon, not some stuffed toy! This is how you rip someone's throat out!" His beak darted forward, seeking her neck.

OOC: I'm a little worried about making up an NPC that's a little too helpful. How many good-guy NPCs (Beyond the 'pencil pushers' that have already helped?) are on board and how many griffons are still up and about? Moved this here to reply. You've pretty much engaged the ten or so who came into the dining hall directly, and only three are still up, the two Dunder is fighting, and the leader. However, there's a party ransacking upper level state rooms (Muggo Ale's dealing with one of the outliers) and there's an unknown number up on the open deck above. They havn't tried to take the engine room level or the bridge, as they figure with it's wing-sails disabled they can't do anything anyway. On your side you have something over 100 ponies of various species, split about 40% unicorns, 30% pegasi 20% Earth-ponies 10% other, not counting a crew of about 30. Most of the passengers are in the hall with you, I figure ponies are a bit like hobbits, easy going, fond of their comforts and happy to enjoy themselves, which is probbaly why the griffons only assigned a dozen pirates to the dining hall. But like hobbits, when they are under pressure they can perform incredible things. And the griffons seem to forget they're attacking creatures with magic powers, and the more of them there are, the more powerful that magiic is. I've given you the party of cook ponies with cooking implements (frying pans, who knew?), a party of engineer unicorns lead by Lore Scroll (one of their jobs is to feed the thaumic boilers with magic (think the Cider Squeezy 6000) so they are skilled at throwing blasts of raw magic and unlike Blueblood they have the endurance to keepit up for some tim), and the named characters at the Captain's table. About the only one I havn't already involved is the pegasus mystery writer, Jessica Fledger. But the main mass of ponies are free, and only neeed some direction to fight back. Draw your own named NPCs from them, if you don't want to ask for help from the ones I've provided. You have more than enough ponies to see off this invasion, all they need is a leader. I'm not going to have Blueblood do it, what he's already done was mainly to inspire you and the other players as to what's possible, so it's up to the other players to win this one. Be inventive, create, expand what I've provided, that's what this is all about. If you think something might disrupt the story or something I've set up, thresh it out with me here or via PM. I'm not supposed to be some sort of GM, you guys have just as much right to introduce new story elements or plot (no plot scenes though, that would break the site rating).

The griffon with the sword was defelected for a moment, but the other, foreclaws free, snarled in triumph as Dunder went down. He wing-charged forward, claws outstrecthed... to be stopped short by a half empty serving dish arriving a speed from behind the stricken pegasus. "I may not have fancy magic, but in my youth I could buck a fully loaded pear tree clear of fruit in a single strike." Mr Asstor was well back beside the overturned table, looking over his shoulder. His wife was throwing another dish behind him, and he bucked it at the other griffon, who barely ducked out of the line of fire. Other members of the passengers and crew were starting to arm themselves, unicorns levitating whatever object was nearest, earth-ponies getting ready to buck objects while pegasi wer lifting up things. "I don't aim to be pusehed around by some bird-brained pirates!"