tacobob

 

Smolder could not help but chuckle to herself as the Hippogriff mentioned all those who she either kissed or were kissed by. And while she would never admit it to any creature, that Terramar wasn't such a bad looking fella. One worthy of a few scrorchy dragon-kisses from a certain dragon. Then it dawned on her. She was WAAAY behind her class-mate in the smooch-department. She wasn't even near the Smooch-Super-Market. Even her brother got to kiss his pillow. Which was kind of sad.

 

She had also considered checking out Seaquestria as Spike had mentioned how awesome of a place it was. However, he also mentioned that they used some sort of magic pearl thing so they could breath under water. He said that he was turned into a freaking blow-fish! No! She would be something cool. Like a shark. Or an break-dancing, sun-glasses wearing Dolphin. NOT A BLOWFISH.

 

 

She needed to get that out of her head. That vision. Wormy, squirmy, bottom of the food-chain blow-Smolder. Till then, other thoughts found their way into her scale-covered head. She could file 'Terramar' for 'later'. And she bits in her coin-pouch. Where did she get her bits?

 

As much as she enjoyed her schoolyard pranks and shanaggings, sometimes those came with a price. And after the library fiery fiasco, she had to replace things...And things cost bits. And her beloved Dragon Lord wasn't gonna pay. She had to learn her lesson, and this lesson involved a job. And what sort of company would hire a young dragon with no prior experience? Why, the local Hay Burger, that's who! She got a terrible uniform, the need to wear a hair-net when cooking the burgers and she had no hair! But it paid. Poorly. And after paying for new book for the griffon and few other things that turned into dust, she had a few coins left over. Still, it could be worse. She could be picking apples for her teacher!

 

And speaking of apples. It was her turn. She needed to pick the right apples. And there were several variations. No Zap Apples.

 

"Erm.", she thought, "Got any Honeycrisp?" Ha! Take that Professor Applejack! She was only sleeping in her class.....Most of the time....But not all of the time.

 

 

Once the comic was in it’s place, an assortment of magical lights appeared and disappeared. In moments, the three were no longer in the room, but they were staring at the first page of the comic with the “Blood Death Manor 2” logo and the image of a creepy old house.

 

Both the dragon and cat’s eyes light up as they saw the home.

 

“Oooh!”, Knife was the first to react. “I know this place! Oooh!”, the dragon bounced up and down. “This is the creepy Haunted Stables ride at Whinny World!”, this caused the cat to react in surprise.

 

“My big brother Dagon and I rode it a bunch of times.....”, she was very happy to see the old house, “Mom and Dad took us to Coltifornia for one of their conventions, and let us go to the nearby theme park...And while they had Sploosh Mountain which was fun, we kept coming back to the creepy old house.", There was a small set of instructions by the flat image of the house.

 

"This is really cool. This couple move into this big mansion and one finds out.....", she was quickly cut off by the cat.

 

 

"Hey!", she growled. "Don't ruin it..", she pointed at the rules. "Not sure if Daze has been on the ride yet....So don't spoil it.", she pointed to the board. "This is one of the comics that gives us extra points for playing our parts as this isn't just us going to a haunted house, we are playing characters from the original, family-un-friendly version of the ride that Claude Goats wanted...Spooky, but they watered it down a bit to make it suitable for every creature", she sighed. "Claude later published his original story in both book and comic book form."

 

The three were now wearing different clothing than before.

 

Daze was now wearing an horizontally striped yellow and blue t-shirt and blue short-pants, with white socks and red horse-shoes along with an red cap with a blue bill.

 

"You're now Golly Hooves. An happy-go-lucky teen with a dream of playing it big at Hoof-Ball. You're super brave and more than ready to take on a bully and give him 'what-for'."

 

The dragon started to chuckle. "Heh. Golly Hooves."

 

The cat continued, "Knife, you're his little brother, Bratty Hooves.", this caused the dragon to let out a groan. She was wearing similar clothes to her 'big brother', except her shirt was white and red. She also wore her cap backwards!

 

"You're an rambunctious kid who is kind of er....", she was trying to find the right word. "Er. Dumb. You're more than happy to blunder into trouble, which only your big brother can pull you out of."

 

"I am.", she glanced down at her clothing. She wore an plaid pleated skirt, with a pair of white bobby socks, a pair of Penny Loafers and an nice dress shirt. "Just says I'm the girl...Ugh. Golly Hooves' number one girl.", she cringed as the name was read. "Boopsy Belle. Oh sweet mercy.", after giving the dragon a horrible glare, DARING her to laugh, the cat continued to read the instructions. "We get more points if we act like this characters. And this story was written years ago..Back then when ponies would attend sock-hops and said "Gee-Whiz" a lot.  So Golly. You're a hero.", she turned to the Pegasus pony. "You're always saving our useless behinds from all kinds of danger and you're full of Pep and Vinegar. Whatever that means.  While, I'm the 'Girl'. I'm actually a good deal more useless than Bratty...Everything scares me, and I have to whine constantly....Bratty.", she looked over at Knife. "You're not afraid of anything and will constantly go running towards spooky sounds, creaky doors and squeaky floors. If you see a ghost or other monster, you have to charge towards it while shouting,  "Let me at 'em"

 

"To win this comic, we have to survive the house till sunrise. We loose a ton of points if Bratty or Boopsy dies...But if all three of us die, we lose. Got it?"

 

Once Daze was ready, they entered through the first page and into the comic.....

 

 

“I’m pretty sure that ‘Gunter Glieben’ bit was from that one Abyssinia rock band.", the mare tried to move her wing, but only received an rather nasty bolt of pain..."Deaf Leopard...Ow..... gonna start a fire...come on...rise up gather round...rock this place to the ground.", she sang-groaned.

 

Seeing that the pain wasn't going to go away anytime soon, Pocket Change broke out his first aid kit and grabbed a few bandages along with a small red bottle with Princess Celestia's sun on it.

 

"I'm an student over at the University Of Fillydelphia..", she started to point to her sweater, but it was in such bad shape, she realized the logo was now unreadable. "I'm a business major...All on a TEMPEST scholarship. As long as I keep my.....", she paused as the helpful unicorn went about patching up her wing..."Chee....Grades up...I'll end up with a job at one of Fillydelphia's largest companies...", she squirmed, "My dumb ex was just a dumb jock who also attended the same school.....He's a good drinking buddy and Culbatizing pro...heh.....ouch!", she turned and glared at the unicorn before turning her attention back to the big dog.

 

 

"I don't have any issue with that...", Pocket Change finished up bandaging the Pegasus pony's wing. "Also, don't use this...Like for at least a day...And Mister Hogo-sha....Please tell her what we're looking for."

 

 

Next year’s trip to Whinny World will probably involve her happy little group  being chased by the weird animated statues they have there, but for some reason, have become evil! Or maybe the costumed characters that would normally be anticking about the many themed lands were replaced by evil pirates? Instead, her next vacation would have her hiding under her bed for the entire week with a bottle of Coltswords Whiskey? Nah, there was probably an gateway to another world under her bed that she would fall into and have to escape.  This would all be very amusing to the mare if she wasn't in so much pain and there was also the chance she would just freeze to death.

 

There was also now a very big wolf creature nearby. This removed the chance of her ending up as an ponicicle, but instead becoming a snack to the beautiful creature. Thankfully it spoke, and it called her  'Moto'. And only Swift calls her that. For reasons. This was far better than a 'roar' and then a few moments of 'Nom-Nom-Nom'.

 

"It's actually Fire Walker.", the red mare REALLY did not need to correct the wolf. But she really was not in the mood to be called 'Moto' even more. "And thank you..I'll just wobble over to meet him...Ouch...", the Pegasus pony appeared to have injured both er right wing and leg and had an awful limp. With each step, the pony let out an curse word. Each word getting worse, the longer she walked. "I really hope you're real and not something I'm just imagining.....Cause I lost too much blood..." Well, she at least could imagine something very pretty. That was a good sign.

 

 

 

Seaquestria? Seriously? That sounded so made up. And she mentioned -dry- ground? Did her kind escape that bloated snow-baboon by hiding in the clouds? Or did she mean she lived under the sea? Like a sea-pony? But she was an....

 

Ugh, it was far too early to be thinking so much. She just needed to be patient and wait in line like a good little birdie and soon she would have her fancy pony apple juice and then her friends would shud-up about it already!

 

It was like this every year! Did you go to the opening day of cider season? No. I had to work. Did you go to the opening day of cider season? No, I want to sleep in that morning! This was supposed to be the best of the best! Something to make your feathers stick up!

 

The black griffon did roll her eyes up a little when the pink gal mentioned something about vampires. Oye. A somewhat familiar voice called out to her. She turned.

 

"Oh.". Yep. Fire Walker wasn't messing with her. What was his...her name now? Donnie? Dander? Danny? Dunnie? Drander? Flanders? Oh crap.

 

The big griffon gave her old friend a hug. "Hey...Haven't seen you in ages....", she purred. It took her a moment to figure out what she was doing with Blueblood, when she remembered the little job he..she...Fire and Muggo went with him all those years ago. She wanted to say a few more things, but someone, or somepony was trying to get her attention.

 

"Oh. Last mug?", were the others going to have to wait until the next day to have their cider? Holy Moley!

 

"Thanks kid.", she handed over the bits and took the glass. "Hey Brownie...If you want half my glass, just ask...Feel odd drinking this right in front of you.."

 

She took her sip. "Mazel tov!"

 

 

 

 

Oh. dear. Fire did not even have to look directly at the beloved Princess of Love to know her perfect ears had drooped down in slight shame.

 

“But...”, The Pegasus pony could not bare the thought of Princess Cadence's day being ruined. "Things were rather exciting with the caribou and no creature actually...technically was hurt.." She smiled back at the Alicorn. There had been slight bruises. The officer usually fought using the dull side of her blade, and the weapon was meant to disarm, not harm. And once a foe was disarmed, it was generally an unwritten rule that an enemy is a friend you haven't made yet. Although the mighty creatures were still very deadly even without their weapons.

 

Thankfully Swift tried his best as well. But as much as she liked the Crystal Empire, it was not her idea of the perfect honeymoon destination. Hers involved an nice, sandy beach. A rum drink housed in a pineapple and nothing to do, but just to soak in Princess's Celestia's sun while slowly running her hooves in the sand. Maybe wear that one piece she had purchased last month. No adventures. No plans and no worries.

 

Fire Walker could not help but frown a little as Swift mentioned the single track that lead to the Empire. This was actually rather new. A sad, single little way to get to what had been the Crystal Empire. It was built in hopes that one day, the ancient empire would return after vanishing into thin, cold air. And it did, after a full thousand years. When she was younger, she would sometimes join a surveying crew that would slowly make its way up the tracks, making sure everything was still in place, and she would make sure no wild beasts would be able to harass the train workers. She later learned that an tribe of white coated griffons also watched for the 'return' from an ancient tower they all lived in.

 

And her beloved's heart was in the right place, but the outside was not the type one would go out and enjoy festive, winter activities, but was the type of weather you need to get out of now. Not later, but as soon as you stepped hoof into it as the weather, you were going to die if you lingered. Shining Armor was also very correct that they did not have an full weather team that could handle such a storm. Could any team contain such an beast?

 

"Good evening Lady Applejack....Rainbow Dash.", Princess Celestia really needed to knight Twilight's companions.  They were honest to goodness heroes, and a title always looked good on one's mailbox. The mare thought it rather funny that her work-friends all seemed to be having kids by the bushel. Foalshel?  While her friend-friends were avoiding kids altogether. She could only imagine how adorable Pressy's kid would be. Her entire family were a bunch of lookers, from her stately mother, to her rather pretty brother. Considering her friend Zelda the Griffon...She usually partnered up with ponies. Would she have an hippogriff? The officer had only seen a few of those before. There was an pretty pinkish one in Ponyville that attended the nearby school. An stocky brown and white on that she was pretty sure was Discord, and one she met at an woodcraft store not that long ago.  "Wedding is up....Still in the planning stages.."

 

 

 

 

Miss? Had she ever been called an 'Miss' before? Wasn't that reserved for really old creatures?

 

"It's Smolder.', she tried her best to be polite, which was a rather new sort of thing for most dragons to do. "I attend the new school here....School Of Friendship...Which is basically a school for creatures in my age group where comradery is infused in each of the classes.", It sounded sort of weird when she spoke it out-loud, but that's what she had heard someone describe the school before. They had to learn how to play nice with others, but there was still the usual stuff. Biology. Prench classes. Trigonometry. History. Even in those classes, friendship and teamwork was all still part of these classes. "There's plenty of ponies that are attending, but they allow just about any race in...From dragons like myself, Hippogriffs, like miss pink patootie over there..", she pointed to a rather animated young mare that was slightly ahead of the pair in line. "Yaks, Changelings, griffons.", they all needed to learn how to play nice together.

 

"As for the line....Ah...", she shrugged her shoulders. "There's not a ton of stuff to do here...We have a movie theater.....Only two screens I think...The market sometimes has something interesting going on....Right now, the 'thing' to do is buy apples and get kissed by Applejack....I did not actually plan to do this, but I had a class assignment that needed to be done, and it involved this farm. According to our history class, this village wouldn't have existed if the Apple family never stepped hooves here..."

 

She noticed an familiar face in the crowd. Her 'brother' from another mother. "Hey Spike!", she waved at the smaller dragon. Weird. He looked a good deal more like her than her actual brother.*

 

And hey! They were now talking about her! Like she wasn't there...."Hey! I didn't mean to...But that look on Gallus' face when I accidentally fried his book...Wanted to apologize but the expression made me laugh...Almost looked like he was stuck in mid-sneeze....And you know what happens when dragon's laugh..."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Was this even the same bag her tent originally came in? Somehow the large tent that could fit two full griffons came out of a bag that would be too small for one single apple. Setting up had been easy. Just pull tab A. Walla! You got yourself a tent. However, there was no simple tab to put it back in. You had to fold it up like sixty times to get it to fit just right.

 

Just as she was on fold number forty two, an excited mob of creatures rushed in....”Hey!”, she growled. Too late! The poor griffon and her tent were carried along with the thirsty mob and promptly planted a little closer to the farmers and their apple cider machines.  She gave any creature an nasty snarl if they dared to cut ahead of her. Still, the cute blue griffon continued to grab her attention. He had an old griffon name. It meant someone who was bold...daring...reckless. One with full chutzpah!  A proper hero. One who would look rather impressive in a pair of her armor once he got a little older. Gold and blue. She could see it. Golden armor. Not that awful steel armor that breaks apart with one hit! She managed to hear a little bit of his conversation? He didn't have anything to do? Really? He should be fighting off all the gals who wanna give him smooches!

 

A pleasant voice snapped her out of her train of thought. It was the adorable bat-pony. There was an proper, restful word she had heard her friend Fire Walker and her goofy husband to be, Swift Squall said to call them. But she forgot it and bat-pony was fun to say and easier to remember. So the heck with Fire and her big red flank and Swift with his snooty, snooty snout.  "Oh hey....", his little odd show did cause the griffon to pause as well. He almost looked like he wanted a kiss. Once he was finished, the black bird continued, "Yeah. This thing just doesn't want to go in the bag. Almost want to just chuck it in the can over there, but then I'd loose my deposit.  I....er...the hay?" as ponies would say.

 

The Hippogriff was getting her claws allover the poor guy. "Hey you pink shmendrik!", she growled. The blacksmith was starting to say 'hey' a lot today. What was with that? She wanted to scare her away with a swipe of her claws, but there was a good chance she would hit her, and that would not look. Hitting a teenager and all. Or young adult. She was not sure. "You don't go grabbing a guy's wings! Especially if you don't go asking first!", she cawed.

 

 

 

The griffoness could not help but grin just a little as she spied the cute blue griffon through the corner of her eye, checking her out. She was that way too when she was his age. Always hanging around with her friends in Canterlot.  Fire Walker was the military minded tough-girl. Presteza was the creative and cute planner. Docket was the brains. Together they......Wow....Something else caught her eye. Towards the farm, there was a rather large wolf-dog-thing? Did the Apples trade away their Border Collie for that big fella? Apparently they were ready to make a big batch. Hopefully enough for every creature. From what she had been told, the cider was made on the spot. Fresh with an proper head. Shame it wasn't hard cider.

 

There were a few other interesting folk nearby. From a rather adorable and fuzzy bat-pony in sun-glasses. Wait a second? Were those dragon-wings? He almost looked like Wind Walker's little fuzzy 'Draco The Dragon-Pony' plush doll she used to have on her at all times.Was Draco for real? Further down was an rather attractive mare that seemed to be offended by the very idea that she was standing on an dirty, unpaved path. Still, she was a cutie.

 

Griffons were born with incredible eye-sight, so she could see Prince Blueblood...And she was sure her old friend Fire Walker had been pulling her tail. Said he used magic and turned himself into a mare. Ha. Even said former colt-friend Dunder did the same. Poor gal must have been drinking some of Swift Squall's stronger wines he had in his cellar. Squall Sherry....And speaking of Dunder...That mare did look a little like.....Nah.

 

It was probably a good idea to dissemble her tent and roll it up, which she started to. The griffon did not want to lose her deposit. "Huh....", she caught sight of a creature she had only heard stories about. An Hippogriff, and a rather pretty little on at that. She seemed to know the bluey and even called him out. Gallus. An proper, heroic griffon name. She liked him even more. They were probably school-mates over the nearby school. Being an bit of the beaky side, she decided to listen in to their conversation as she finished putting her tent back into its bag. Was it always this small? Oh feathers.

 

 

 

 

“Patience...”, the officer warned the farmer. ‘It’s slow and steady....If I pull you out too quickly the sand’s vacuum will push you down further.”, this worked just until the Sombra-Lite? She really did not want to call him by that name. The real Sombra was an horrible living shadow that tormented and enslaved Crystal Ponies. This one seemed to be just grumpy. Could this be Discord? She knew the devious draconequus liked the marvelous yellow mare and sometimes she would see him follow her about like a puppy dog. Even while making barking sounds. He was an odd fellow.

 

Things were going slowly, and soon the....Sweet Celestia...While she lacked the utter beauty of Fluttershy, Ali looked incredibly adorable when grouchy. Fire Walker just wanted to fly down and squeeze those big cheeks of hers. But that would not be helpful. And speaking of helpful, the hopefully mock prince off shadows was helping! Yay! he Diet version of Sombra finished the rescue, and the farmer would soon rest her hooves on grassy ground.

 

It was now the deer's turn. With Ali free, she scooped up her rope and flew it over to the others. She lowered the rope to Fluttershy and her squirrel  friend. "We just need to wrap it around his stomach and pull him out...Just like before...But he'll need to be calm." this was something the animal caretaker was a pro at. However, there was something else wrong. Apple Bloom had rushed off again. Ugh! Has that girl ever seen a horror movie? They needed to rescue that deer before the filly wandered into further danger!

 

The red Pegasus let out an painful yelp the moment she tried to move. Something was very wrong with one of her back legs. Her left one. She was almost too scared to look.

 

Thankfully it didn’t look too bad. Just a clean slash right against the gambrel. This was still something she needed to take care of. She let loose another. "Swift!". She needed to make sure he knew where she was. 

 

"Really don't want to do this....Swift spent so much on this dress...But if I don't...", she tore off a bit of cloth around her neck. This is turn was quickly shifted into an sturdy bandage. Why did her vacations always end in tragedy? Take a cruise? She ends up in an crazy island of chaos. Trip to the Crystal Empire? Insane warrior caribou. Spend time with fellow officers on an old training field? End up in the under-land of the dead. She could only imagine if they ever make an stop over at Whinny World. This she pondered as her bandage was formed and applied. The longer she was without Swift, the desire to panic drew further near.

 

Once the bandage was secure, the officer tested her leg. It still hurt like a mother-bucker, but she would be able to move. "Swift!", she called out.

 

It was time to move....Where would Swift be? Thankfully the airship was not even close to being halfway full. So while there would be less ponies to help her, there wasn't going to be as much carnage as if they were on a full cruise. She pushed herself further...."Swift!"

 

 

The little colt turned a slight shade of red. “Oh dear.”, he gulped. “Almost forgot the most important part of my job....The actual comics..”, he pulled out a small binder. It was marked HORROR COMICS. And since everything needed a scale that used cute ponies, there was a chart that listed how scary a comic was. One was listed as ‘Not So Scary Horror’, the icon for this level was a happy little colt standing next to an equally adorable sheet ghost. No actual horror was going on. The 5th and final level simply had an terrified adult pony in full horror and blush.

 

“Why is that pony blushing?”, the little dragon asked.

 

“Well, that pony was so scared he had a little accident in his pants.”, the colt responded rather dryly, “Normally you would get to pick which of the five comics you wish to interact with. However.”, he pulled out a comic enclosed in an white sleeve with a big number one on it. “Since your group consists of an young cat girl and a baby dragon...”

 

 

If looks could kill, Knife would have been a mass murderer by now.

 

“You are only allowed to use the first level of horror...”, he opened up the sleeve and pulled out a rather colorful comic. “Lickety-Split's Not At All Scary Adventures In Sugar-Land", he slid the comic back into its sleeve and started to hoof it over to Daze before something or someone crashed into the little pony who let out an squeak as he fell. Along with Fast Track, the sleeved comics fell to the ground.

 

 

"Oh.....Sorry there Mister Track...", it was the cat who stumbled into the poor creature. "Was distracted by something over there and I ran into you...Let me help you with the comics.", after a few moments of fumbling about, Thrilly ended up with the level one horror comic. "Got it.", she waved it at the Pegasus who nodded his head.

 

"Thank you....Good luck with the spooky...", he made air-quotes with his hooves. "Adventure..And I know from experience that the Sweet 'N' Sugar Ghosts might be a little too scary for the little ones, so if your baby dragon gets a littlie too scared, feel free to exit when you wish.', he smiled at the threesome before exciting down the hallway.

 

 

Knife was besides herself. "This is going to terrible! Sugar ghosts! Not at all scary! I wanna go back and slap that dumb kid......", she glanced over at the cat who was giving her the 'look. "What?"

 

The cat slowly pulled out the comic from the first level sleeve. It was a different comic. The titled read. , she slid it back into its sleeve. "Switched it....Nobody's sneakier than a cat...", she lead the pair into the next room...They needed to find a place to sit, open the comic and soon they would enter an new world of....terror...

 

 

 

 

A black griffon poked her head out from her tent, only to be driven back in due to the sun's happy rays that met her eyes straight on. "Hok a chanik...", she grumbled to herself. Her silly Ponyville friends managed to convince her that the Apple family made the best cider of all time. Everything else was utter schlock when compared to this famous, fabled beverage. The griffon had her doubts, and she had some of the best Rockwington Dry Ciders one could try....Canterlot Estate No. 139 Dry Rosé Cider.....Froggy Bottom Hoofmade Cider. And even Angry Appleloosa Old Timey Western Cider. This was all crap when compared to the Apple's, they said. And you couldn't just shlep on down to the nearest Cantermart and snatch a six pack from their coolers. Nope! You had to visit Sweet Apple Acres on a certain date and be ready to wait. For a long time. Maybe event rent. a pup tent. Do it, or you'll regret it.

 

There were plenty of things she regretted in her life. One was a permanent marking on her right claw. Pretty blue markings. Done by an artist who dumped her during what was to be a very happy day for her. And now she was in an tent. Waiting for a mug of cider. After letting out a sigh, she pushed her tent flap open again. Thankfully she was ready for the light this time.

 

One of the famers, a pony she knew as Applejack had greeted the little tent city. The line had gotten a good deal longer since the night. Wow. She took a good look at the nearly endless row of tents behind her. Ahead of her was a cute griffon....Oh. He was a little on the young side. A boychik. One with a rather unique bright blue coat. Was he there when she set up her tent? Did he cut in line? He called the farmer an 'Professor'. Heh. Typical griffon snark. Hearing the name, 'Griffonstone' did sorrow her mood just a little. Did the kid come from that dump? She had heard they were -trying- to fix up those ancient pile of ruins, but it wasn't worth it. And the cider BETTER not be decent. Or even just good.

 

She heard 'Big Mac's name called. The last time she ran into that big stallion, they were fleeing from an horde of angry and probably mutated termites. Hopefully they took care of that mess before they started on the cider. Even the best drink would go in the bin the second she saw an nasty little bug floating around in it.

 

Since she still had time before the line started to move, the griffon started to roll up her tent. Hopefully they would be able to finish this quickly, so she could get her deposit on the tent back. She gave he young griffon an 'Morning' before she turned and nodded politely at the unicorn as she continued to work on her tent.

 

 

 

"I probably would have never dared to ask her." That would have been weird. Asking your boss to help set up your wedding on your very first day at work. "But the moment I mentioned I was getting married, she just volunteered. Both the castle and her services." And how could one ever forget a wedding with royalty? This could all change with the passing time. She could not help but grin when the Alicorn mentioned her own 'Empire.' "We really need to visit your homeland. The last few times I was there, it was for work, so I didn't get anytime to wander about.  Oh.", she caught the brochure, "It would be the first time I'll really get to visit and not be on the clock..", she paused to glance at the advert, "Hmmm. Flag of many hues and a petting zoo with tiny ewes. " The mare had her mind set that her honeymoon would be more sandy and less fidgety.

 

This was the moment her beloved spoke up.  "Well, generally you want a wedding venue that has a special meaning to your life...", she quickly added, "And is within reasonable distance from your family and friends. All who have full time jobs and in many cases, kids." Most of her friends were not swimming in bits, so a trip somewhere fancy where everything cost a zillion bits to stay would not be wise. "They also converted the old family estate in Canterlot, into a rental. It's being used for weddings...Bed and breakfasts and such....My bunch'a'greats Grandfather Lord Maximus married my buncha'a'greats Grandmother, Lady Labyrinthine there...And wow, what a wedding.", she bounced, "Right before they were to take their vows, the home was seized by Maximus' mortal enemies, the dreaded 'Gloom Brotherhood'.", she lowered her stance as if she was about to get into a fight. "I read the battle lasted for hours and if you ever went into the basement that leads to the wine cellar, there are an assortment of really creepy Ossuary down there..Made of pony, griffon and even a few minotaur skulls....Those aren't fake.."

 

Her jaw did drop just a little when her favorite stallion dissed the Crystal Empire right in front of its ruler. Oh dear. She loved her Swifty ever so, but he really needed a filter. Thankfully the impressive Alicorn was the Princess Of Love, and not the Princess Of War. Hopefully Presteza's natural adorableness and Swift's odd mention of Applejack would be enough of a distraction to keep the Princess from smiting her husband-to-be.

 

"Ha....I have enough Pressy-stories to tell the good Corporal, it would make you blush so hard, you'd end up looking like my twin sister.", she winked back at her old friend.

 

 

 

 

“Generally they do all the coupons and specials during the slow seasons..”, Pocket Change had no issues lifting their luggage with one of his favorite spells. Telekinesis. Easy to learn, hard to master, and it was the ‘go-to’ to spell for any unicorn. “Families with kids and couples that were just married tend to spend more on these trips.” He caught sight of a few other pamphlets that his very favorite mare did not see. “They opened up that new ‘world’ in Whinny World..”, his enthusiasm quickly vanished as he read further, “Oh, one new ride. Thirty new stores.’, he groaned.  There was another for the Gallopocus Islands. This one proclaimed in great big letters that they had an nude beach. “I don’t get it.”, the stallion was well aware that ponies were au naturel by default.

 

This was probably the first time Pocket got to spend a decent amount of time with his beloved in what seemed like ages. They were usually so busy. He had his assorted quests, missions and jobs to do. Adventure called. And here he was. And not that far from the most perfect of mares to ever walk into his life. And this was the best kind of trip. One he didn't have to pay for. And they would get to visit a rather impressive school of magic. Normally during one of these sorts of trips, the young unicorn would be able to pick up a new spell. Generally in trade for one of the more obscure ones that he knew.  He was surprised that some unicorns were unaware of the 'mend' cantrip. Handy spell! Fix your cloak! Fix your hat! Even your socks! Don't leave your tower without it!

 

Oh-Oh. Was Moon setting him up? This almost felt like a scene for a movie. She never mentioned if this unicorn was a mare or stallion. Had a name that could mean a few things. This could be a ghastly unicorn stallion who practiced dark magic. That was one would think, but he had a feeling this was going to be a gorgeous mare whose beauty stopped hearts! Well, not literally.  But her beauty would have no affect on the white pony. He was already with a beauty with no match. Or maybe he was a chef that made those really big hay-burgers with all the fixings. They were usually called 'Heart Stoppers' and were covered in unhealthy add-ons.

 

One of the newer recruits, Magnus Durum was also with them. This would be the first time he actually got to meet the stallion.

 

 

The young dragon found a seat on the floor and waited for her turn. This probably was not a good idea as she now would have pebble imprints on her backside. Silverstream was a rather passionate Hippogriff. Once she found a cause to root for, she was there for life. And her current cause was the fight to be nice to the giant space hamster. Still, after getting a good look at the mare, Smolder realized getting into a fight with her would not go well for anyone.  Something about the mare..The way she stood...The way she glanced about..And of course her armor...This was a solider and she would kick the snot just about anyone here. And there had to be a story behind that broken horn.

 

What was all that noise? Curious, she turned to see a pony doing a bit of stress eating. Which was never a good sign. She should be friendly. "Heya.", she could be sweet. Dumb ol' Gallus! She could do it. It's hard not to gain such skills when she spent time with Ocellus.  "Feeling a little upset? Wanna talk about it?", she fluttered her eyes-lashes as she spoke. Wait a second, she had eye-lashes?

 

 

 

"Miss Presteza is a type of pony, once you spend time with her, you never want her to leave your side...So I can assume they were always trying to find excuses to keep her on staff.", the mare added, "And artists have to be patient or they'll just make a mess..I'm sure whatever they needed my girl was ready for the challenge."

 

Once near her friend, she couldn't help but watch her interact with the Royal Guard and could not help but chuckle. She had been calling the artist 'Miss Presteza' since they were school-ponies. First out of sarcasm, then a bit later, out of respect. The sunny coated unicorn helped the Pegasus pony out of a rather dark place. Her date was probably the same age as they were, but he had a foal-fact and looked a little younger than the group.

 

 

“Oh..my....”, While she was part of the Twilight Guard, she was still a member of the Royal Equestrian Army. She was still on their mailing list and she received special R.E.A only discounts at any of the Cantermarts Markets....So she knew she had to bow to the good princess, but there was no way she could move in the good princess’ grip. So she would wise to answer her questions. Or face further hugging.

 

“No date yet....We need to make sure our schedules don’t clash...I have my special duties and he has his businesses and hobbies.” Can't miss out on the hobbies! She knew of some of them. Like his need to toss on odd costumes and go on adventures under an odd name. The red Pegasus was no stranger to fun little Daring Do style missions. "I believe...And I'm not one hundred percent sure, but so far there are ideas of having it at the 'Castle Of Friendship' with the good Princess Sparkle.", sweet Celestia's perfect hooves that sounded corny. Normally she would have said Princess Twilight..But Sparkle? Sounds like a character in one of her little sister's shows she says she doesn't watch but does in secret.."She would also work as the officiator....Although that might change considering all the changes that are going on...There is an non denominational pastor in Ponyville named Pipe Down who could fill in that spot."

 

"As for the other questions...Erm.", she sighed, "Originally I wanted a small wedding, but I would be the first mare in my family to be married, and Swifty here is an only child...So this might end up being rather large....As for the rest...Still in debate.", wow, she smells really good! What perfume does she use? "I'm sure once we have a proper planner, things will be settled.", she lowered her voice. "Bachelorette party has been mostly settled....Wild Stallion Saloon in Las Pegasus....Just trying to figure out a way to ask the good purple princess." She also needed to make sure they picked a day there Great Giovanni would be performing.

 

Once she was freed by the Princess of Love, she gave the royal pony a proper bow. As her stallion went in to check on her, she gave him a quick little kiss on the snout. "Don't worry. I've survived several Pinkie Pie hugs...One from Princess Luna...And one from a Yak for some reason. They really like compliments." Her beloved then broke out into some nerd-speak. Some odd language only his kind could use. The good Captain was familiar with such talk. Oh gods, please don't let her first child be a nerd-ling.

 

She spied Applejack from the corner of her eye as she entered the room...She was looking slightly uncomfortable but still rather impressive in her military dress. She would hopefully be able to have a few words with the impressive earth pony of many talents and jobs soon.

 

But for now, she need a drink.

 

 

 

 

Sweet baby Celestia! Maybe someone should call the school janitor! He’ll need to take a whole day to clean up all these names the others keep dropping!

 

And this new professor was once bitter enemies with the ‘Purple One’? How many enemies did she have? Dragons never have any enemies. They either had creatures they tolerate or a pile of bones. Pick which one you want to be!

 

“I always knew that weird kid was up to no good.”, the dragon sighed. “Found it rather odd she was so young and was always wandering the halls of this school.” Little ponies could not be evil.But Smolder was pretty sure ‘Cozy’ was something else. “I betcha she’s some sort of evil shape-shifting demon..Or monster of some kind. As she acted like someone who has never seen a kid before would think a kid would act like...Some creature that only saw kids when watching one of those creepy Shirley Trample movies.” Why in the world did she see one of those nightmare inducing films? Creepy pony with great pig eyelashes and an very curly mane. Tap dancing away and talking like a zombie. ‘You've got to S-M-I-L-E To be H-A-Double-P-Y’. The young dragon shuddered.

 

"So...", guess it was her turn to ask a question. "What happens if someone who doesn't believe they're evil does evil believing it to be good? They might think it will help their friends and or family?"

 

 

The ‘angry natives’ looked exactly what Pocket Change believed they would look like. Drunk young adult ponies in very bad Nightmare Moon costumes. Some wore tiki masks. Which sadly were the best costumes, but they were in the wrong lands. The Gallopocus Islands were one would find such an angry set of natives. A few others were dressed in pirate costumes, and one even wore an hockey mask, which was popular in the ‘Fri-Neigh The 13th’ series of movies. These were terrible looking ‘natives’ and their acting was beyond  atrocious as many shouted out, "Oingo boingo! Oingo boingo! Flee trespassers!”

 

One rather inebriated pony in a pirate costumed shouted. "Arr! Better leave now ponies or we'll send ye t' th' deep!", before he realized his error, "I mean....Gunter Glieben Glauten Globen!"

 

This farce quickly ended the moment their very red eyes caught sight of Hogo-sha. "Holy crap!", a pony who wore an brightly colored luchador mask shouted out, "There's a freaking giant dog here and he looks hungry! Everyone! Let's get out of here! He can have the treasure!", they were gone in seconds, leaving a few of their masks and even a couple of wallets behind.

 

 

"I can't believe it!", the mare popped out the bush. "That was him...The guy who shouted 'Holy Crap'", she mimicked his accent. "That was my former.....former colt-friend, current jerk...His friends pretended to be 'angry natives' to scare me away.", she growled, "Once I was gone, my former and his drunken pals could have shared this 'treasure', which I wonder what it is..." she glanced up towards the temple.

 

Pocket Change took that as his cue to leave his hiding spot. "Guess there's only one way to find out.", he shook off some extra leaves before turning to his companion, "Good job Hogo-sha...You made short work of those terrible.....Ugh..", he grunted, "They were all just terrible."  What treasures would they find? Gold? Silver? Magical artifacts?

 

 

"Maybe it's more like switch...With a gentle tug, I can make you go from grouchy to feisty..."

 

It was like magic! With the help of her song, her old friend magically appeared. Oh was already there and Fire Walker had not seen her yet. Nope. It was the magic of her sweet, sweet, melodic voice. She was like one of those princesses in an Whinny movie. Just sing a song and you soon have animals doing all your chores. Heh. That would never happen in real life.

 

"I'm sure it was just a temp job...", she whispered back.

 

With her Swift hopefully at her side, she made her way over to her friend. And since it was generally frowned upon and usually detrimental to the structure of their delicate dresses, a big hug was not the right thing to do, although she owed the unicorn about a year’s worth, she gave the mare a proper, R.E.A hug. No sudden moves and nopony was going to be pushed across the room. “We have so much to catch up with...”, she was attending the event with Flash Sentry? Really? Not a bad pick. He was handsome and even with all the mess that had happened in the past, he was still dedicated to the guard. “Corporal”, she politely acknowledged him. She would have to hear how they met. She wouldn’t be surprised if Pressy’s brother was involved somehow. As he was part of the guard....Now she was pondering where he was.  It did make her feel considerably better that her old companion was hopefully seeing somepony. Fire Walker had a somewhat antiquated view on these sort of things. She was rather sure that single ponies were the most miserable creatures ever and the only cure that lead away from the darkened caves of loneliness to the bright and shiny castle of companionship was being with somepony. And the painter pony had been in that cave for far too long. On the corner of her eye, she noticed Flash's expression. While she would have liked to spend the entire night at her friend's side, she would need to keep it brief. Let the good Corporal have the lion's share of the spunky mare's time. There was always going to be another day for Fire/Press bonding.

 

"Punk just got back the other day...And he has not learned a single thing.", she groaned. Where would Pummel send him next? Ghastly Gorge patrol? The Gates Of Tartarus? Hayseed Swamp? It only was going to be worse...

 

As she glanced through the crowd, she caught sight of a few more ponies she knew. There was the rather swift Heart Shield, who like her brother Walk, spent a good deal of his job as a guard on the street. And then there was...Oh. Captain Shining Armor, and when he was around, so was Princess Cadence...Probably one of the prettiest creatures to ever have existed in Equestria. Oh, to have those hips....legs....and the rest of her...Shining has to be one of the happiest stallion's ever. With that thought, the unicorn made his way over to the small group.

 

She could not help but chuckle when the good Captain mentioned he did not recognize Swift. And while she had a snarky response that would probably turn her green stallion beat red, she wisely decided not to..."This rather handsome young stallion is my fiancé, Swift Squall." She really wondered if he should be introduced as 'Prince Of The Crystal Empire'. Even after spending the majority of her life in the R.E.A, she still couldn't understand Equestria's monarchy system. "And you probably know Captain Shining Armor...Or at least of him.", she nodded at her stallion.

 

 

Once their fare had been paid for and the threesome hopped off the taxi, the cat glanced down at her handy pamphlet. "Says here, the fake comic book racks and shelves are just decoration, and more importantly, the owners were tired of ponies taking pictures in his shop, so he made those so pictures can be taken without interrupting his customers. We'll have to take a few after we're done. Cause I really want to have a few prints of you two crazy girls so I can show my friends and family back at the circus. Show them I spent time with the best pony and best dragon.", flattery was the easiest way to get to Knife's heart as she turned a shade of pink.

 

This did not last, as she noticed a pair of pony fillies who were staring at a camera making 'duck faces.' "THAT IS NEVER ATTRACTIVE!', the dragon roared. This did not faze the girls who rolled their eyes up, "Whatever!"

 

 

 

Thankfully, the three were soon in the store and it was very busy! There were ponies, griffons, and other creatures checking out the racks. Buying comics, figures and other goodies. A young colt was there to welcome them. He was a fuzzy brown Pegasus pony who wore blue uniform shirt like the other employees. On his name tag, it said. TEMP.

 

"Hi, I'm Fast Track....", he paused as he noticed the strange looks on at least two of their faces. "I know what you're thinking...Kid working at a big store like this...I'm just here to help my cousin Near Mint. She got sick, so they let me work here cause we're really busy.", he nimbly dogged an rather serious looking stallion who carried what seemed to be every sing issue of Power Ponies. "If you need any help...", before he could finish what he was saying, Thrilly spoke up.

 

"Take us to those comics that let us enter 'em. Like what this pamphlet says..We want to experience it all.", her eyes grew big. She was ready!

 

"Er, right. Follow me...", Fast Track lead the three into a long hallway. "We have horror...superheroes...romance...westerns...Pre-Equestria history....", as they walked, they passed doors with what appeared to be icons. A cape for superheroes, a cowpony hat for westerns, etc. "There's science fiction, zombies, spies....Once you've figured out what you want, just tell me. It's twenty bits a head....I'll give you a key,you enter the room, all three of you must touch the comic inside by ten seconds and walla!", he added, "You either finish the comic by beating it, or if you get die...um, lose. And if you need to leave the comic for any reason, just shout out. LET ME OUT and my name. The bathroom's on the right."

 

Both the cat and dragon glanced over at Daze. "You get to pick first.."

 

 

 

 

After receiving the invite and wondering if she would be able to attend, or if her fiancé Swift Squall would also be able to fit the event into his usually busy schedule...Or if she could order the dress and get in time, it was time for the ball.

 

As the red mare slowly entered the venue with her stallion, she glanced around the room. This was practically a family reunion as every single one of her brothers that were officers were here. From Cordy Walker to Moon Walker...Her older brother Punk Walker could be seen trying to hit on one of the R.E.A Head Enchanters, who was one of her very good friends, Ilinalta. Who was also married. This does not go well for her brother. “Ugh.”, she groaned as they continued to walk. She was pleasantly surprised to hear that her old teacher and now head chef at the impressive Cupid II Resort Airship, Greasy Spoon would be preparing the meals for the ball, or at least there to supervise. Her father was probably in the middle of having a chat with him and seeing what he and his staff would be working on. 

 

Now she needed to deal with her grumpy little pony she had at her side. “Swifty...”, she whispered, “These are supposed are not supposed to be wild parties, but just nice little, relaxing..”, she stressed that word, “Get togethers...I get to see more than a few ponies I rarely get to talk to..Outside of letters...Even a few I haven’t seen since officer school graduation...",Oh crap...There were a couple of ex-coltfriend in attendance. Storm Chaser was looking a little on the heavy side.  And Player One, her very first boo was with his wife.

 

“I’m going to need to find your ‘snark button’ and flip it off.”, she whispered with smirk. “You’ll just need to relax...Nothing you need to do but make small-talk. I’ll make sure you talk to the right ponies....And hopefully General Pummel isn't here...", she had spoken about the elderly stallion before. Fire Walker had faced all kinds of terrifying monsters in her lifetime...Armies of evil Changelings...Pirate Griffons. Shadow beasts..But the old grey Pegasus pony had been giving her the 'jibblies' since she was an filly.

 

"No...No drunk royalty here. Not even sure Alicorns can get drunk..." The closest thing she saw was Princess Twilight before she became a 'princess' dancing at a Canterlot garden party she was standing guard near. The purple pony had been either dancing drunk or just wasn't very good at shaking her flank. "Just relaxing music....Pleasant conversation. And oh, look!", she pointed to one of the servers. "I requested they serve  Bon Marché, and here it is....Nice red wine. Perfect for an relaxing evening with friends." , she curled her eyes up in pure bliss.

 

Besides Ilinalta, there were a few ponies she recognized, but none she was super-close with. "Miss Presteza told me she was attending with one of the guards...You remember her? Cute gal. Freckles. Kind of sassy. Uses her tail as a paint brush, which I would normally not recommend...", she glanced around to see if she could find her old friend. "An't no party like a Pressy party and there an't no party without my Pressy pal....ie...", she was not a good rapper...