SteelEagle

"Ohh, very ambitious!" Twilight replied. Being the Princess of two very different but important facets of Equestrian life- apples and dresses, was there even a third?- would be very hard work. She'd have to wake up extra early to do the Princess of Apples work, probably meaning she would have to personally bless each and every tree and use her magic to make the trees grow faster and with bigger, jucier fruits. And then she would have to work hard, trying to bless every dress in Equestria! Oh, did she even understand what the thread count on every dress even meant? Well, she would after being Princess of dresses! And oh, all the designers always fighting about everything. What a turbulent Princesshood she was signed up for. "And yes, I do believe that Rarity's shops- all of them- would fall under your rule. I am sure she would be enamored with all of the ideas of Princess Ambrosia, Princess of Apples and Dresses. Or would it be Dresses and Apples?" She pondered, wondering which one would come first. After all, they had to pay a lot for the castle stationary and you didn't want to make them have to redo the work. That came out of the royal budget after all! She led the filly back towards the cellar where they had been practicing. "How are you feeling?"

Rarity had seen other Ice Storms use very similar magic. Indeed, they were all uniquely powerful with weather-based abilities, and some even had additional attachments that amplified it. Appeared as though this Ice Storm followed suit. It sometimes made Rarity just what other Rarities were like. Were they all unicorns? Were there perhaps some fabulous mares? Maybe some villains. He was sure that they would probably be more successful than he was. They at least weren't responsible for near as many half-truths and lies as he was. He could only hope that this Ice Storm was as quality as some of the others he had the fortune of meeting. He nodded. "I see. Well, if you want to do it that way we'll do it. Pull the ramp up!" He said. Before he could say it, a couple of his crew managed to get off the ship, running for their lives. Solar Guardsponies quickly grabbed them and pulled them towards the Solar's residence. He'd deal with them later, though he couldn't fully blame them. It was bad enough to imagine being boarded, robbed, or otherwise treated roughly. It was another thing entirely to imagine yourself falling into a bright void for what was perhaps an eternity. All in all, he couldn't be too mad. It just meant he had fewer crew to do whatever it was they needed to do to handle their own Ice Storm. "Get to your positions. And wait for my orders, if you would," he said as he put his hat back on and took a deep breath. He'd have to rely on this Ice Storm and needed to know what her plan was. He would do his best by keeping a calm demeanor and allowing her to do whatever magical thing it was she did. "Okay, well if you so insist on doing this, we're with you. So, what do you need us to do?"

Twilight smiled. "It will be easy enough to help you with the basin and those involved. There will always be some who will be lured by promises of riches, but I can cut off any seemingly higher level of support. I will also be sure to inform my counterparts in the Republic- though, knowing the graft that takes place, I would not hold my breath for a positive response. Still, it would be wise to inform them. At worst, I am concerned one of the families will involve themselves, but that is a risk one must take," Twilight said as she brought parchment and quill up to the table. Before she got to work however she smiled. "It has been a pleasure meeting woith you. I am sure that in time this situation will be resolved well and we will have a future relationship built on trust and understanding. I wish you luck, Ride. You may very well need it." As for the 'Agent', Ridge would be forgiven for being disappointed. The griffon in question was not some suave secret agent or strong warrior, nor was he a great leader by any stretch of the imagine. The paper that read 'Gallus' would seem to indicate a rather unremarkable young griffon, a good student and excellent member of the School of Friendship but utterly without 'enghaged' merit in the field. He was of slight build for a male griffon his age and certainly unimpressive when it came to flying. What exactly it was that the Princess saw in the young student that would be of value to the dragon as he embarked on his mission to save the city was not readily apparent; trust would be needed,because that is all that could be readily offered.

Twilight had to suppress a smile. She didn't try all that hard however, so it probably showed pretty easily. Ambrosia was very certain that she understood what being pretty meant and Twilight knew that she should have known better than try to teach Professor Pretty about the nature of beauty. Plus, she was perhaps too young to really understand what she was trying to get across. Well, she was known for trying to soapbox a bit too much. So, for now, she would have to acquiesce to Ambrosia's expert opinion. "Well, if you say I'm pretty I suppose it has to be true. You are the expert on cute things, after all," she looked up at the orchard then back to the littlest Apple. "As for becoming a Princess, hmm? Tell me, what would you be the Princess of? Princess of...dresses? Apples? Oooh, should I tell your mom that she should prepare to hoof over the farm to you," she said as she started to dramatically and playfully turn around to find Applejack and tell her the good news!

A hot tub reminded him of rabbit soup. That was a delicacy among the less well to do Griffs of Griffonstone and he could have a rabbit right about now. Fluttershy would go nuts but rabbit soup was...so good. Euuugh. The worst part about Equestria was the lack of good meat dishes. That and thinking of rabbit soup made him feel better than thinking about what a griffon would smell like after too much time in the hot tub. How could anyone stand it? Maybe he would do better in it if he went into his sea form, but that was another discussion for another day on another topic. He leaned back and took a deep breath, allowing the warm air to go through his body. It did feel good in his lungs, and he stretched his wings out to allow the warm air to move through his feathers. It would become uncomfortable later, but he would take the good times when and where they came. "Temperature setting four? Out of how many?" he asked as he stretched out. "I think its pretty good, Silvie," he laughed. "Well, as good as a spa can be at least. Not sure they built this with our kind in mind, but it should be a fun day. I know I often times like to joke around, maybe a little too much perhaps, but I'm really grateful you decided to drag my wings along for this ride with you."

"Oh, if your brother wants ta play in tha ball pit he can play. Ain't nothing wrong with that," she said as she ruffled Ambrosia's mane before her eyebrow arched up. "Wait, ice cream? Who said somethin' about ice cream, you silly filly?" She asked as she leaned over to try and see her son play in the pit. From here she could only see a side view of the entrance, so once he was inside she couldn't really see him. No matter. She trusted that he wouldn't get into any trouble and if he did...well, ya know. She'd be here. Hopefully just waiting for that sassy filly up front to get her order right this time. "An' why aren't you wantin' ta play? Don't wanna play with the other fillies?" High Bar was one of those fillies but she was perhaps the surliest little filly of them all. She was deep in the ball pit, on a little raised part that led deeper into the ball pit-slide set that made up the playplace of the Haydonalds. She dangled her bottom two hooves in the pit, kicking them back and forth and counting the seconds until she was allowed it. Imprisoned in a ball pit; what a world. She never wanted to go to the Haydonalds in the first place! It was a dirt-poor restaurant for dirt-poor ponies with no taste or sense of grace. She was sooo above this trash that the smell of the place made her want to vomit. And if she was home, it would be that simple. But no, the bodyguard her father assigned to her during her time in Ponyville had different ideas. Apparently, he liked Haydonalds, or that's what she could gather from him stuffing his face in the corner seat of the playplace, ostensibly monitoring the area. She had done well enough to force down the junk that passed for food here and thought that would be the end of it. But as she watched him slowly eating and reading the paper, she had a sneaking suspicion that his excuse that she needed to socialize with ponies her age was little more than an excuse. Just a hunch. It could be worse, she guessed. As surlky as she could appear to be and with as little enthusiasm as she had for being forced into a ball pit of anything, she didn't mind the fillies and colts all that much. Sure they were country rubes and all, but she preferred simple and smiling over fast-talking and backstabbing. She was sure there were tons of others out there, but her experience was limited. And speaking of limited experience, Zap's last dive sent a few balls careening towards her. She used her magic to stop some of them, but failed to stop it entirely. "I see you're just full of it today, Zap," she said as she smiled at the colt. What he was full of, she'd leave to him. "See the pegasi earlier?"

Sunny's mind was not ready. She was simply a normal mare in a normal pony village. Her mind was bright and optimistic but it could never compete with the information overload that she was being showered with. Her mind burst wit names, flooded with ideas, crushed under the unrelenting weight of Bridlewood history. What was once Sunny Starscout was now a slave to the mountains of traditions that the unicorns of Bridlewood had and she was now being given the very gift of knowing. Woe betide any who tried to learn too much too quickly from the Moonbow, lest her positivity and love of Bridlewood send you gasping for air! It was easy to get lost in the words, so much so that they were in Bridlewood by the time Izzy was done listing the traditions. She didn't know what to really say or what to start off with, but as she saw the sun was now almost entirely set she figured some traditions would be easier than others. "Izzy, how do you remember all of that? I nearly broke my hoof writing it down at first," she said as she looked back at her saddlebag, with her notebook having been left without listing everything Izzy had said. "What are some of your favorite night-time unicorn traditions?"

For a moment, Sunny's heart was in her throat as she imagined the wondrous goggles that had been gifted to Zipp being stolen. Then she realized that it was just the batteries and her relief was palpable. Too palpable. However, she still knew that Zipp would need help to discover the horrifying truth. The truth...of what happened to the batteries. Well, not every mystery was all that interesting, so she hoped that Zipp wouldn't freak out too much. Zipp was an amazing mare but at times she could be a bit...extra. "Well...it was a twelve-pack, right? I used two of them on the TV remote. So now we're down to ten!"

Dude, rashes under the wing sucked. It was bad enough when you lived among griffons but in Equestria the proper creams were less common. How bad was it when you lived under the sea half the time? Gallus couldn't really imagine a happy answer to that question. Gallus clamor of agreement was thus somewhat more agreeably enthusiastic than many others, even if still wasn't on board- seemed weird to share it so openly, but these hippogriffs seemed pretty open as a species anyway. That just reminded him that he needed to make sure he really washed and dried the inner wing well. He didn't want a rash or a smell- did he smell now? No. No he was fine, which was good because he would probably have to drown himself if somegriff said something now. Wait, what was he being asked again? Oh, the griffons. How he brought them together and all that. He wanted to tear into his own kind like he would normally, but he didn't want anygriff here to get a bad tingle running up and down their spine and feathers whenever they saw one. Saw him. He also didn't want to lie, so he did what he did best when the truth threatened to rear its ugly head: Bend it. "Griffons can be...difficult. We are proud of who and what we are and sometimes that can make us seem aloof. But if you can see past it and make friends with us, you'll have no stronger friend or ally. We don't have tons of friends but the ones we have, we are very close with," he took a drink. "It was easy enough to get other griffons on board once I told them what was up. Equestria was our friend and no way no how were we gonna allow anything to happen to them."

Twilight laughed. Oh, was she always this pretty? Was she even pretty? She surmised that she was rather regal to some extent, but attractive? She would be the wrong pony to ask. She certainly would never have imagined herself as being anything special. She didn't think she was ugly by any stretch but pretty? Cute? Beautiful? Maybe she just lacked that natural talent for developing her own self-esteem in terms of appearance, but she just thought she was rather plain. She dismissed a lot of the reactions she got as the effect of her royalty blinding others. It wasn't Twilight Sparkle they were attracted to or found in any fashion special, it was just her title. The splendor, the royal bearing, the power and grace that came to an Alicorn? Easy enough to slot such flirtations under that banner, even if she tried to forget that many of those flirtations came before that time...and from unusual sources. "I don't know. That's a question for my mom, I guess. I do know that pretty or not, I'm happy being me, and being happy with who you are is the best way to make you feel as pretty on the outside as you are on the inside."

Applejack was very, very proud as she watched her little daughter go to work. She was always very proud and always pleased at her progress, but...well, it was hard to not feel that extra surge whenever Ambrosia did something new and special. And today, she was doing something special. She leaned down and gave her daughter a hug. "Yer gonna eat real good tonight, sugarcube," she said with a kiss before standing back up, her back creaking. Already tired, she hitched the wagon back up and smiled back to the two of them. "Alright, sugarcube. We'll talk later- Ah know you wanna learn yerself some pretty magic with a pretty purple Princess," she stuck her tongue out, while Twilight shot back quickly. "You think I'm cute, do you?" She asked with excess smarm, eyebrows raised. Applejack walked away with a roll of the eyes while Twilight finished writing in her notebook. After a few more seconds she stood up and smiled, waving a hoof to follow. "Well, want to continue our walk and talk, or would you rather do something else?"

"Wait, you're not an expert on spas? And here I thought all those plumbing books were so you could open up a private spa that was school-adjacent," Gallus said with feigned shock, relaxing into the wooden seats that made the spa feel a bit cool to the touch before it would inevitably heat up hotter than the sun. It started to rise pretty quickly, a lot faster than it would naturally. "Yeah, I bet it will. What's the right temperature for you?" Gallus asked. His own comfort level was somewhere along the lines of a soft warmth with a cool breeze and a cool day with a warm breeze. Once she found the knob that controlled it, he realized he would have his answer soon enough. "Yeah, looks like it. I mean I guess its kind of cool they allow it to be customer controlled. Probably makes their lives easier," he said with a quick thought piercing through his mind. "The professor probably drove them mad," he said before straightening out his back with one claw to his chest. "'Oooh, darlings, one up- no, no, one down!- hmm, no, I've changed my mind. One up!'" he said with a smirk, his best Rarity impression to date on full display.

After what seemed like a bit too long for her liking, the young mare behind the counter finally summoned her. Applejack trotted up and took the tray. "Thank ya kindly-" she said as she looked it over, and noticed something was wrong. She needed it just right for her youngins. Still smiling she returned to the counter. "Hey, uhh, Ah don't mean ta be a problem, but this ain't what Ah ordered. Ah ordered one double hayburger, two foal's meal hayburger and hayfries with waters, an' a grilled haybacon ranch salad with an apple par-fay," she said as she put the tray down. The young mare behind the counter looked her up and down and got the sassiest little raised eyebrow of all time up. "Ya sure 'bout that?" she asked. She wasn't chewing gum but she should have been with how she looked at Applejack. "Yes, Ah'm sure. Ah didn't order one double hayburger, one foal's hayburger meal with milk, an a small ranch burger," Applejack responded, trying to keep her cool. The young mare rolled her eyes. "...Okay, whatever. We'll make it again, thank you," she said, taking the trays in her magic and sassing off to sassland or wherever the heck it was young ponies like her got all that sass. Applejack felt an urgent desire to talk to somepony's mother, but reeled it in before got too far. No reason to get a manager involved just yet. Applejack trotted back to her seat, muttering to herself all the way. "Ah swear when Ah was a teen nopony talked ta adults that way..." she said as she sat down, absent-mindedly giving her daughter a hug. Her natural motion was disrupted by the absence of Zap Apple however. "Where's yer brother?"

Sunny spared a few thoughts for the goggles. How were they made? How did they work? She hadn't seen anything quite like them before, but to be honest she hadn't looked into it very hard. She just chalked it up to a mix of unicorn magic and her unique unicycling abilities. And so the real question is less how did she make it, and more so did they really want to learn how she had done it? Some mysteries are best left unsolved, Detective Zipp, but far be it from her to dissuade the detective from detectin'. "I bet it involves crystal. What does it feel like when it starts to do its work?" She asked as she followed the good detective, though it wasn't long before Zipp was far ahead of her. Keeping up with a pegasus was hard work! Still, she didn't think it was going to be a problem until Zipp yelled out for her. Sunny didn't know whether to be excited or worried, but she followed all the same. "Oh, coming! What is it? Something wrong?" Sunny asked as she wheeled down the stairs towards the Zippster.

Sunny had to bury an excited neigh that tried to escape her as they made their way to the outskirts of town. She liked to plan things. Big planner- always trying to make a big impact with moves made to the largest number of ponies. But, well, she wasn't very good at it. It turned out that when she just followed her gut and flew by her fetlocks that she was much more successful, and she had all the evidence in the world of that staring at her with her bright, big, beautiful purple eyes. "I just have so many questions! How is it powered, how is it run, the traditions- I'm just so excited to learn all about a new city. It's just so-" she stopped in place and quickly tapped her hooves, "eeee, so exciting!"

Rara took her cut and got back to it. "Discord opened up his case and he said, "I'll start this show," she said as the background musicians for the next part signaled they were ready, with Rara taking a pre-arranged fiddle. "And lightning flew from his fingertips as he rosined up his bow. And he pulled the bow across the strings It made a chaotic screech-" she said as she pulled the bow across and a terrifying screech echoed out. "Then a band of fools joined in, and it sounded something like this-" she finished before she start playing the violin. Well, play was a strong choice of words. She did her best but the real play came from the backup musicians who made this rocking element of the song play well. Her own violin playing was mediocre and not up to the necessary standards of the song, though she had plans to rectify that before they took this act on the road. Soon the instrumental section ended with flair, the rocking and off-putting display of musical prowess giving way to Jackie's Made in Equestria pride and swagger!

Gallus had to be careful. If he wasn't, he would soon learn the entire history of the plumbing of various Equestrian spa outfits. The dates and types of pipes and how the system was run efficiently through a combination of...well, all it meant to him was a pile of tubes, but he was sure there was a dramatically more in depth answer awaiting him if he dared to ask. Of course he made fun, but he knew it was tied to her known attention to detail. She was awfully observant for a griff that so commonly seemed to have pushed her heart in front of her brain, but that was why other creatures were dumb and Gallus was great. He recognized quality. "Really?" He said as he sat down, getting as comfortable as he could allow himself to feel in a sauna. Which, well, it was more comfortable than he thought it would be, if he were being honest. "I just thought they used magic to do it. I know I would. Do they have spa related spells?" He pondered. "But really, how do you think they automate it without it going haywire and drowning the system? Do they wait to hear the clients complain about flooding?" He thought some more. "That would cut the costs a bit..."

Sunny nodded. She didn't feel particularly in need at the moment in town. Years and years of trying to push the ponies of this town to do the right thing had worked, and she wanted to revel in the spring and warmth of her new friendships. The Canterlogic materials and clean-up were their own responsibility, and the town's efficient public sanitation department (probably the only such department anypony considered efficient, sorry Hitch) would handle it. The same could be held for much of the city proper as well. If there was one thing that this city was highly effective at doing, it was cleaning up the messes it had made while panicking for no reason. The only real new development was her home. The light house had suffered tremendous damage when Sprout had run his stupid robot into it. It was very, very, very dangerous to be around now. Thanks to the news of what happened spreading like wildfire however, more than a few construction companies had offered to help repair the place with funds generously donated by a group of ponies led by Sugar Moonlight. And once that was done, she had very big plans for that lighthouse- something a bit more crystally and brighter than before! "Oh, I think we should do it right now. Like right now right now!"

Apple Chord went and started the song well and true. Discord Went Down to Ponyville was an old favorite of the country circuit, with dozens of covers over the years. Even Apple Chord had released a very popular version years ago! The title of the town changed from time to time, but the meat of the song stayed the same. Rara herself was a fan of the song even as a filly. It was an exciting song- good theme and storytelling and balling out on the violin that made the song so well known. And luckily, Rara just happened to know one of Equestria's finest violin players even if she was often too modest to really admit it! Rara allowed the song to play for a while as the musicians got into their role. When the song's first verse came back around, Rara stood up and took the microphone. "Discord went down to Ponyville, he was lookin' for a heart to steal," she started, her voice deeper and more conversational than normal. "He was in a bind 'cause he was way behind, and he was willin' to make a deal. When he came across this young mare sawin' on a fiddle and playin' it hot! And Discord jumped up on a tree stump and said, "filly, let me tell you what!" She said as she pulled back for a moment to put on her best Cheshire grin. "I guess you didn't know it but I'm a fiddle player too. And if you'd care to take a dare, I'll make a bet with you! Now you play a pretty good fiddle, filly, but give Discord his due- I'll bet a fiddle of gold against your love 'Cause I think I'm better than you!" She said as she waited for Apples to take the heroine's part.

Twilight took the seed in her own magic and gently held it in front of her as she beckoned the filly to approach. The next step would be easy enough for Ambrosia to do with what she had learned so far magically, but Twilight was here to help direct it. And now Ambrosia would have her very own tradition, and maybe future unicorn members could follow! Or not. It was up to history. When Ambrosia was close enough, Twilight started to slowly lean the seed towards Ambrosia. "Ambrosia, you are a very special pony, and a very special Apple. And you will help everypony to remember that, starting now," Twilight said with a smile, bringing the filly closer. "I want you to take the seed in your magic and lower it into the hole you have dug. When you do so, try to imagine writing your name on the seed itself. And make sure you give it a kiss while you do so, because love and friendship is the greatest magic of all!" She said as she waited for Ambrosia to take the seed in her very own magic.

Applejack was ever proud of her little filly. She was very different from her mouth, her brother, her uncle- most Apples throughout time. But that difference made her unique and special and this Day would go a long way to making sure that her legacy would endure. She watched Ambrosia dig at the ground and try to make her whole suitable for the seed. As Applejack watched Ambrosia work, she leaned on the cart and got the rest of it ready. "Seedling Day is one of tha most important moments of a young Apple's life," Applejack started, too excited to talk about it to remember she had brought Twilight into this already. "This apple tree will be her apple tree, a tree that will be a reminder for future generations. It's one of the best traditions in all the land, if I say so myself. And I do!" She ended with a less than dignified giggle. She was just too dang excited. Twilight rolled her eyes playfully before looking at Ambrosia as she finished the hole. Twilight knew well the power of the affection that familial traditions could provide and the Apples took that to a new level. It was why she was shocked but pleased that Applejack had offered her a role in the Seedling Day, and why she was happy to see Amby ready to move on. Applejack opened the bag and took out a single seed meant to grow an Ambrosia apple tree. "Ambrosia, take one of these here seeds an' go over ta Twilight," Applejack said. "And when you do, we have one thing we'll do together before you plant it," Twilight added, her horn lighting up lightly.

Gallus was more than happy to call in Silverstream for the assist. For all of his faux arrogance he wasn't somegriff who could easily talk up his legitimate accomplishments. He never felt he earned them or did anything all that special, or anything that somegriff shouldn't have done if they were in his position. Why be treated like a hero when you were as bag average as he was? Much easier to talk up the small things he knew he was good at. Nogriff could really call him out, nor would they, because who really cared if Gallus got a small win. Besides, it wasn't just his story. He was only one part. Silverstream played just as big a role, and she was amongst her own kind. Why not give her the time to be the heroine? She deserved it. "To Friendship!" He said as he joined in the toast, drinking down the relatively disgusting drink and drowning it with te sweet taste of shrimp. At least this was going pretty well so far! He nodded along to Silverstream. "Yeah, that's the one. Or maybe the time I tried to get us out of our homework assignment with Rockhoof..." he said with a winking smile, before looking out over the bar. "I helped rally the Griffons back 'home' when the trio of villains were trying to take us all down. Same with the rest of the group- we all pitched in. To friendship indeed!"

Sunny started off very confused when Zipp started hovering about, acting as if there was a grand conspiracy that Sunny was part of. She saw purple mane hair and just assumed it was her! Of course, Zipp started dismantling that reality piece by piece above her. The scent was different- Sunny gave a sniff and couldn't really detect anything. Maybe something, but...well, she'd have to trust Zipp on that. But when she examined the hair visually, she could see that Zipp was right. It certainly looked a bit more sparkly and glow-uppity than what she would normally do, and the shade of purple was different. And it was certainly more wavey (she guessed) than her curlier texture (she guessed)...okay, that one was beyond her. She couldn't feel that much of a difference...but maybe the water just dulled it down enough, and only Zipp's crazy good eye for detail won out. She smiled as she watched Zipp take care of the mess. "Oooh, you got me, Detective Zipp," Sunny said with a smile as she approached with a coy smile. "Our evil mane-hair clogging operation was as tight a ship as this criminal mare has ever seen, but your-" she said as she put her hoof on the detective's chest, "-persistence saw through our plan. Darn you, Detective Zipp!" She said with an impish laugh as she fell back. "But really, that was pretty impressive. I can't even tell the color difference all that well when the manehair is like this, not until I get really close. You have such great attention to details, Zipp!"

Sunny wasn't as sold on the idea that the whole horn-chopping a tree down like a jackhammer experience was as thoroughly passé as Izzy was suggesting with her response, but she didn't press it. Clearly the art of horn-carving and horn-chopping and other horn-as-tools moments in Bridlewood would need a further examination, because as excitable and amazing as Izzy Moonbow was, a pony's neck was still their neck and Sunny was convinced that if she tied that she'd end up in the hospital for a while. Izzy seemed to want to move on from it though, so she'd simply note the answer and allow for it. "Noted! One question more for the book," Sunny said with a smile as she set the chair down. She then took her food mess to the trash along with Izzy's, and in short order the satisfied mares exited the pizza parlor without a primary goal in mind. As they did, Sunny thought about the unicycling-ception that was in play. "So if you uniclyed before her or she did it before you, were you the teacher or the student? If you unicycle a unicycle, is it in an infinitely repeating loop of unicycling? Or is time itself a construct of pony perception? Is unicycling even real...woah..." She paused. "Oaklee sounds really fun. It also explains why you live so far away from the rest of the unicorns in Bridlewood, too, which leads me to our next stop...Bridlewood! I want to spend some time there with you, to get a feel for the place."