tacobob

Once the smoke had cleared, Thrilly stood victorious. Or at least had managed to stop the thief from swinging his nasty looking tail around. It looked like someone had attached a knife to the end. But it was actually a natural part, of his rather scaly little tail. Scaly? “I think our little thief is a dragon!”, curious, the cat pushed down the hood to see a rather small scaly girl. “Oh sweet baby Bacchus!”, she cooed, "Our thief is so dang cute!" "I an't cute!", the adorable creature squeaked. "I thought your dumb bell was an Citrine and I really like those..", the small creature tried to sound tough, but there was more than a hint of fear in her voice. "You're either a cute little baby dragon, or you're a mean thief we're going to throw into a Canterlot jail. What's it gonna be?", Thrilly stared the creature down. A loud sigh came from the creature, "Could we go half-way? I'm cute. But I'm not a baby! Oh. Now she's hugging me....Yeash." The cat dragged the helpless little beastie into a full hug. "Oh, this is the best day ever!", she shouted, "Can we keep her?", she asked the Pegasus pony as the dragon rolled her eyes up. "I think I might change my mind about prison..."

Nice, heavy snow. Normally she would hate to see it in her yard. But this time it kept the blacksmith and her ‘passenger’ free from harm. And even nasty scraps and bruises. “Oh....Right.” under her lawyer of clothing, feathers and fur was a blushing little griffon girl. She almost did not want to let the poor mare go as ponies were so dang hug-able. After what seemed like forever, Zelda released the poor mare from her grip. “Not terribly keen about our current predicament.”, the black bird grumbled as she retrieved her bag, “But I feel fine. I would rather be in our little cabin, but oh....”, she gasped as their former little home kept rolling down the track. It seemed to go faster the longer it went on. “We probably should start moving. Even with all this clothing, we could still freeze to death out here...” and there was always a chance of FROSTBITE. She didn’t want to end up like Ol’ Steelbeak.

While the unicorn liked the –idea- of monsters and dangerous creatures, he had a feeling his new companion was jinxing the quest with his almost verbal requests to be chased by something. Or even to see an larger version of an already perfectly sized menace. Dangerous monsters were best left in books and movies. And while Pocket Change knew there was always a chance they would stumble upon something unpleasant, he dared never to ask for it. “There are potions one can brew to take on the appearance of another, but those are usually limited to just one subject...And spells as well, but those are for spell-casters beyond my limit..”, It seemed like it took forever for him to learn teleportation, but to learn a spell that would change every bit of his person. “Illusion spells I can do, but they just throw a simple glimmer over you and can easily be defeated by those with a strong...er..” The large shape-shifting canine was smelling danger.. “If you suggest we do, we should...” That snout of his was far better suited for sniffing out evil than Pocket’s. “What do you think it is?”, he whispered as he tried to find the best place to hide.

“Well then. You have chosen what suits you. A pony of grace and strength.” The moment Valen picked his costume, it seemed like all of the light had vanished from the universe. Or at least everything that was Rarity’s shop. Now only a rather ghostly looking unicorn stood near the colt in an endless white void. “While you are not yet ready to face your fears..” the ghostly creature spoke with Rarity’s voice, but was clearly not the fashionista. “I have a feeling once you fully embrace this school and learn from both its teachers and students, you will be more than capable of taking on those fears and even learning more of yourself and what sort of pony you will become. Listen to those voices, but make sure to listen inward as well.” With those final words, the ghostly pony vanished, along with her void. This left the colt back in the library under a pile of books. “Crap!”, a familiar voice called out. “I can’t believe I’ll be the first creature to fail tour-guide.”, Smolder could be heard a few rows from where Valen now sat. “Guy just vanished.”, she grumbled, “I really hope...Oh.”, she peeked her head through one of the shelves, “Hey there...Did you run into someone you’re fond of, but they were all ghosty?” The dragon quickly noticed something different about the pony. "Or it appears you just took a moment to put on that fancy costume..." Valen was still dressed in his Nightmare Night 'Danseur' costume. "Guess you want to show me some of your moves..", a smile formed on her face, "So let's see what you got.."

Cute episode.

Sombra's death was rather gruesome for a family type show.

I have a feeling they asked Alice what her pony should look like and she was like TWILIGHT! They did switch the dead parent. in RL Patton's first wife (and Alice's mother) died, while it was the other way around in this. Makes sense.

And a geeky side note...AJ's goofy country outfit was based off an costume Dolly Patron wore at a concert...I'm too lazy to find the pic...Parton was also the inspiration for AJ's accent....Parton even did a Applejack song...But that AJ was a guy.

Poor AJ works so hard, only her toy has time to sleep.

Would have preferred it if they turned over rule back to the mortals, like it used to be. And does poor Applejack need ANOTHER JOB?

I doubt we're going to see it, but I'd love to see some of Tirek's backstory animated....Lots of fun races, and his family is pretty interesting...A mixed centaur/gargoyle family.

I sort of felt bad for the Ophiotaurus. He went from...I might have a meal...To...I might get lucky...To whoops! My life-force is being drained out of me.

Cute episode. Looks like a fan theory was correct.... I did laugh when Flutters asked Ember if those were her eggs...

"Yeah, I stink...", the little cat grumbled, "It's like I'm at the elephant pen once again....With my little shovel.." That was not an image she needed to relive. It took her two hours of tub-time to get the stink off her. She was pretty sure she smelled so bad, her little rubber duck flew away! Oh, how her mood was starting to sour. Much like her scent. If only she could get her claws on that pesky thief! She would do him an injury! Thankfully her special wish was answered, as the sneaky thief was within their grasp. And was he trying to HIDE her precious necklace? That's some never-forgive action right there! "No planning..No thinking...Just gonna get 'em.", she growled. Thrilly ran towards the rogue on all four, "MINE!", she hissed as her fuzzy body crashed into the thief's. This of course, caused an traditional, fight cloud, or "cloud of violence'. Golden Daze could hear Thrilly as she growled as the cloud grew bigger, "Nobody breaks into my room and takes my things! And then makes me have to crawl through a stinky sewer and ruin my new friend's day!" The cloud vanished as quickly as it started, with Thrilly being the victor. "Now I wonder who this is...", she quickly reached over to remove the disguise from the thief. WHO COULD IT BE?

“A’-Choo!”, Applejack somehow managed to sneeze with a cow-pony accent. It appeared the closer her lion’s mane got to her nose, the more she sneezed. Even in her current condition, she still managed to keep up with Rarity and Valen Orange as they quickly made their way to the Carousel Boutique. “I really hope that costume is not a rental, darling.”, Rarity groaned. Thankfully her shop was moments away. The farmer shook her head, “Nah, ah done found these Nightmare Night duds in thuh attic." "Well, that's what you get for not letting me design you a costume this year. I had so many ideas for you to show off your beauty and your ruggedness.", the unicorn sighed as they arrived at the entrance. Rarity lead the pair into her shop. After flipping on the light, the fashionista pointed out three costumes. "I apologize for the lack of variety, Valen, but I have only three costumes that will work on you..." The young earth pony could see only three sets of Nightmare Night costumes.. "Let's see...Red and black checkered long sleeve shirt with functional front buttons...Length-adjustable black elastic suspenders with silver-tone metal clips...Black acrylic knit stocking cap...Goofy beard optional...This is my hardy lumberjack costume." She walked by the second, "Pale blue velvet tunic....Satin cuffs and collar....Supplex tights and shoes...For the agile danseur..." "And finally.." There was the last costume. This was rather simple. "And a ninja costume. A mixture of strength and dexterity.....Mostly just black bodysuit and an mask....And rubber sword.". She waited for the pony to pick his costume..."While we normally wear costumes that reflect what we wouldn't mind being, I wonder if you could choose one that best reflects you....An fantasy reflection of an honest self-image.."

Oh boy. Thrilly knew most of those pony onlookers would go home or to work and have an interesting story to tell their friends or family. They just spotted an pony with some sort of mutant sewer kitty! Just like baby alligators, you toss a few unwanted kittens into the pot, eventually you’ll end up with evil-smelling flocks of huge soiled kitties popping out of pony's lavatories, infringing their personal freedom! At least this one came out of an maintenance hole! The small cat glanced down at herself. Ugh! She looked horrible, and probably smelled even worse. In old comic strips, she would probably have little stink lines drawn that would be coming off her. And possibly there would be poor unconscious ponies with little crosses for eyes who were overwhelmed by her smell. Maybe even they were Prench ponies. Ce chat qu’elle pue pue! Pue pue indeed! "Ah thanks.", the foul smelling feline smile back at her new friend. They were still on the thief's track! And the chase was on... Unfortunately, this wasn't very long as one way was blocked. What could they do? "You'll just have to fly us over this ally thing...Maybe we could meet him at the end?", she waited to be scooped up.

“She’s heard all my interesting ones.. Edited for filly consumption of course.”, the mare added with a slightly tired smile. “Probably not a lot of bards singing about the time they had to wait in line at the ‘Sofa & Quill’ store in Ponyville....Although the story about why they have a store in Ponyville that sells only quills and sofas would probably make for a ripping tale.” There were quills needed for her office, and even the Ponesturepedic memory foam mattress that she ended up getting for her little bedroom area at the castle. The store's owner, Davenport was right. She now sleeps like a foal seven nights a week! "Dad is a big and scary guy with a voice that could shake the scales off an great wyrm, so I'm guessing nopony would dare tell him to his face that his stories were full of Wumpus..." She remembered the nights she would listen to his father and his friends try to one-up each other with their own stories...Obviously edited for a filly consumption of course. During this yearly event, it was probably encouraged to fill one's tales with Wumpus or humbuggery. She still never got to hear any of their Celestia stories. One would mention they had an Princess story to tell, and then after realizing a school-filly was within ear-shot, and quickly change topics. She enjoyed her beverage and waited to hear the stallion's story. As she did, even more patrons started to get into line. Some even peered at the story-teller to hear what he had to say. The filly glanced at the stallion's markings for a moment. What a weird race they were. No other species had a 'cutie mark'. If an griffon was really good at something or enjoyed a certain thing, they would probably have to tell someone. But a pony would end up with an graphic of said thing or activity they enjoyed on their flank. Why did this happen? And seriously? Or their backside? Why was this a thing? Grey had a shield marking and a rather old scar. He probably had more than a few interesting stories to tell. Wind Walker smiled as the stallion told his tale. A thief snatched his bits, and the pursuit was a-hoof! And then the nasty pilferer of a Pegasus broke out his knife, "I'm guessing after this encounter, siting was a slight issue for you for a bit." Oh, how she would HATE to be stabbed in the flank! Actually, she would hate to be stabbed at all. And to receive such a stabbing that one would get an permanent scar that could be seen through his hair. Even worse! There better be more to this story. An epic battle between foes. One that ended in victory for Shield, but one with a bit of owies at the end. End of the story. Beginning of pain for the pony. "Go on..", she waggled her eyebrows at the pony. She obviously wanted to hear more.

"I said...er...", the griffon gasped, "We're all cabin and no engine." They were in the last cabin and apparently the Crystal Empire train did not have a caboose. They were going backwards and soon would hit one of those bad tracks. Without an powerful engine to pull it straight, they would probably tip over. Could they simply fly away? Not likely as the wind was really powerful. It almost reminded her of the cliffs near Griffonstone. "Ah crap.", she had her small travel bag with her art stuff, and an carry-on that contained most of her other stuff. She also had an larger bag that contained a few special outfits for certain occasions, but that bag was with the rest of the train and was still heading off to the Crystal Empire. They were going to need to jump. This she could see herself doing, along with the fit Pegasus mares, but the sight impaired little pony? Loose Cannon! She would require assistance! But the black bird would also need her bags. While her supplies were not intended to help her survive in the middle off the frozen wilderness, it would still be of use. A few bottled waters. Some salmon jerky. Once Golden Daze found her way out of the train, the griffon grabbed her one bag, "Bag overboard!", she called out. Or was it over-train? She wanted to make sure the ejected mare knew what would soon be coming her way. "Er, Miss Cannon? I don't have a lot of time to explain, but I'm going to help you get off this train..", Zelda made her way near the mare, "Get your bag if you have one, and I'll get you out of here nice and safe." After she gave the pony a moment to collect her things, the large bird quickly lifted up the mare and went towards the exit, "Just try to curl into a little ball...These clothes I'm wearing are thick enough to protect us both...." Once she found the right timing, Zelda leaped off of the train with her 'passenger'....Into the cold, white, fluffy stuff....

Thrilly smiled at the idea of a hot bath. Along with the tiny little bottles of shampoo and soap, they also supplied fancy rubber ducks! Ones with top hats and monocles! This was a nice mental diversion for the young feline as she was surrounded by crud vapors and poo-gas! Ugh! The bathroom also had a little device that played soothing music. The wonders of modern magic! "Well, thankfully most of the water came from pony's sinks...And bathtubs....And such..", she muttered. It would then be magically filtered and released back into the wild, where it would make the return trip to pony's homes and places of business. This all still sounded nasty, but water was not in infinite supply. "Oh.", she glanced up at the open maintenance hole. Once back on dry land, the young cat quickly closed the cover so nopony would fall in and quickly shook off the excess water. More than a few ponies stopped to gawk at the odd pair. "Golden Daze...Look!", she pointed to what appeared to be still wet horse-prints on the pavement which lead to another dark alley. Go figure.

“Ah 'ave no idea.”, the cow-mare shrugged her shoulders as the pair watched the unicorn finish off her slight panic attack. “Awf course this is Rarity wer talk’n about.” To say Rarity was over-dramatic would be the understatement of the century! The farmer paused to blow her nose into an apple-adorned handkerchief. Something in her costume was messing with her sinuses! Once the unicorn was ready to communicate beyond gasps, she cleared her throat, “Valen...Your cousin...He is...”Sans vêtement....à poil...”, she wheezed in Prench. This did not impress the red nosed mare, “What now? Rarity, please use words the rest of use can understand.” Applejack could never stand for her old friend when she stated talking ‘fancy’. “Fine.”, the fashion horse sighed, “Valen is not wearing a costume. On a night we all get to wear costumes. This I cannot allow..”, she decreed. The farmer glanced back at her cousin, “Well, now that ya mention it, ah jus' thought Valen was goin' as a nudist.” It was now time for Rarity to roll her eyes up, “Seriously? There is only one thing we must do....And that’s to get to the Boutique before it's too late...Come...Quickly!" Would they make it in time? Would there be a costume there that would be just right for Valen? Or was he doomed to celebrate the beloved holiday, Unshucked?

By far this was one of my favorite episodes of the season so far... Loved the bit with Cozy and the guard..I still think she's not a real kid, but something far worse...The real 'big bad' of the season... Also, it looks like Chrysalis still has these remains of the evil Twilight clone. Wonder if she can restore the clone? Although I hated the bit where the guard pops out and shouts, "I'm okay!" after being knocked away by the snow. It's an old cartoon trope I always hated as a kid. Basically it was needed for the censors to show that character was not killed or injured. A character would fall into a hole or vanish, but shout, "I'm doing okay!" or even worse "IT WAS SENT TO ANOTHER DIMENSION!" when clearly that guy is dead. This old trope would have been more fun if Grogar just blasted him after he unwisely popped out so soon..I probably would have waited until the bad guys were gone..

“Well, hopefully not too dirty.”, the cat groaned, “Thankfully I have one of those Jachoovski™ type tubs in my room.", Hopefully once they snatched their thief, they could go back and soak for a bit in the nice, hot water. This also caused her to wonder about another thing. Once they pounced on their hoot-hooved hooligan, what could they do to him? They were not the police. Maybe this was an international super-crook? Wanted in five countries! They catch this pony perpetrator and end up with not only her necklace back, but an great big reward! Which would be split down the middle. Thrilly let out a chuckle, "If my brother heard that, he'd probably bust a gut laughing....Says I'm a dumb kit.....", she paused as the pony gave her a friendly petting. The flying acrobat turned a dark shade of red, that she hoped the Pegasus would not see with her light. As she was given the quick pet, she let out a purr. Thrilly was a cat after all and she really enjoyed a little affection. Before she could thank her friend, the rushing sound of water caught up with them. Once again, the cat was saved by her hero. "I think...", her red cheeks shifted to green, "Someone might have flushed.." Thankfully, this was an Canterlot sewer, so there was some room to fly, but not all the time. "You can fly, but please be careful and not too quick, as it appears the 'ceiling' drops...Our thief took a bad turn when he first entered the sewer and got caught on a pipe...He probably injured himself in the process." Would they be able to catch up with their crook before it was too late?