Boss_Hoss1

Snails ears went down in growing worry as it was becoming apparent any of his classmates might be faster at carving badges.

The orange unicorn foal yeeped and backed out of the way as a dashing looking grey pegasus with dark sungasses bulled his way to the front, camera mare in tow.

Snails was admittedly in the dark about announcers from Cloudsdale, but thought he might be the pony event announcer, Madden that often had his picture in the sport section of the newspaper.

While he was puzzling over what somepony like Madden could report on at a Daring Do convention, the announcement suddenly came about opening ceremonies.

The foal was starting to panic now, and was considering if he could tunnel under the wall and let Snips in when Rainbow Dash suddenly gave Snips a ticket.

Snails whooped and did a back flip as Snails galloped toward the door waving a ticket.

the orange foal pushed the door open, and just in time, as Snips rolled right on through. "YAY! Th' opening Ceremonies are about ta start! Um, Miz Pathfinder, Kin Snips catch ya about th' badge as long as he holds th' ticket?"

Candy smiled in relief, and gave a "hooves up" sign to Doc Holly Day.

The pegasus mare leaned back in her cushion seat and gave her wings a stretch, loath to do anything to end the moment between the Sherrif and Louise.

She rolled her eyes as Thorn took that moment o ahem and chuckle, asking a question...

"Thorn chuckled "So Sherrif, was it as good as the pie the buffalo chief was hit with?"

* ...colts... * she thought

The mocha mare galloped along, panting and sweating, seeing Drowsy just a little ahead of her.

She bunched up to prepare when she heard the whistle, then jumped.

Bistro had to clear every jump for her own pride if nothing else.

She flipped her hind hooves up a little higher just in case and was relieved to not feel the hurdle touch her.

Bistro's ears perked as she saw she was actually catching up, and put a little more effort into preparing for the next hurdle and jumped as hard as she could.

She gasped as she touched down and looked toward Drowsy for a moment...

Madam Bistro smiled as Braeburn considered the question for a minute. He didnt dismiss it entirely but was concerned about there being no soil on the mesa tops. "I am afraid what the ponies in Japony do sounds sillier than that, but that does give me an idea relating to the growth of Appleoosa.

The pictures appear to show they carved out shelf-like spaces in their steep slopes and used the material to build retaining walls. Since Appleoosa has no river, the orchards do a fine job in getting rid of the... compost the town generates since its the only flat growing land around and needs the fertilizer. If we get trainloads of workers, We'll be up to our ears in.. compost unless we get creative. If we test a mesa south of town, it wont change the striking view of towering red rock the town gets, but everypony to the south of town will see beautiful green trees, -provided the idea works, that is."

Bistro suddenly noticed as Braeburn pushed the apple bucket between her and Maximillian at romantic distance? Oh my, this was a confusing town, stallions first sparring with flirting over her, then giving the other stallion a shot? She smiled and blushed behind her fan as Max let her take the first pick with sweet praise "Thank you kindly Maximillian."

She plucked out a ruby red apple and began eating it delecately. "Oh my! Are these from the famous tree that had been kidnapped and returned by the buffalo? This is very sweet indeed!"

Bistro turned to Max after everypony had their say on the resort idea "I am afraid they are right. Appleoosa is too young yet for a luxury resort that can compete. I would wait a couple years at least and see which way the wind blows. There might be a market for a working ranch for ponies to come and be a western pony for a weekend, but those most likely to do that are already moving in... Unless the nobles and super rich have these fantasies in the back of their mind.."

She shrugs "Something to ponder over..."

Madam Bistro elegantly stifled a giggle with a fan in her hoof, holding it before her muzzle.

"Ponyville certainly gets many interesting ponies coming through, doesnt' it?"

She reguarded the energetically friendly pegasus pony wanting to help Princess Candence. He was so bouncy and energetic. While she is surprised to see Royalty running around without guards, she didnt feel the pegasus was a threat. "Oh my, you are enthusiastic, arent' you?"

Madam Bistro hmmmed "Princess, if you are immediately bound for Canterlot with these, we should end up on the same train -unless you are going to summon a Royal Sky-chariot.

We shall both need strong male backs as far as the station at the least. Would my presense help matters any?"

Thorn shook his head to clear it, only now noticing that Granny Smith, who had visited Appleoosa several times before, had been floored by the stench since she had been closer.

The dapper donkey waved a hoof "Sorry I could not have helped you Granny, I was feeling quite nauseous and winded myself."

Thorn wiped his forehead with a cloth from his saddlebag and turned to Metal Maker "Oh yes, that would be great. You can inspect my hooves now if you like, but a new set of shoes for Canterlot would be quite welcome. Shall I meet you at your cart after you get your turn with kissing Miss Applejack?"

Snails whewed as the bunny was going to be okay. "Thanks fer th' help Zecora. You are totally awesome! Not even Trixie could heal a bunny. (Ah dont think...) "

His ears drooped as Miz Cherrilee looked Haywire over and decided the punishment.

The colt perked his ears, all the more so when Reno joined in to help the bunny.

"Dont worry Haywre, Ya got Reno here ta help ya with the bunny. "

When Cheerilee asked all the foals to pair up, Snails automatically went to the side of his Best Bud Snips. "Miz Cheerilee, who's pairin' up with Remington? He seems ta be missin a lot a fun stuff."

The twins back-flapped rapidly to help lower the cart down to a smooth landing,then unhitched and moved to help unstrap

the buffalos. The twins took on the task of unstrapping the older buffalo since Louise and the Sherrif were undoing

Lightning Horn.

Lightning Horn was waving his hooves excitedly and grinning at the two ponies helping him "Oh By the Sun and the Sky!

That was incredible!"

Shanna and Hoss spotted Doc Holly Day leaning on a hitching post, with Hoss asking "Are you okay sir?

Meanwhile Flim facehooofed at the sentence Flam came up with to cover insulting the elderly pony who was Granny's

brother. "Nice...save, my Dear Brother Flam..."

He moved out of the path of the old pony and trotted over to the SSC6k "Do we have enough material in the spare parts

bin, Flam?"

Amber spit out a mouthfull of leaves after she had inadvertantly made a door in the hedge. "N-no problem..." she groaned as she rose to her hooves.

She suddenly shrieked when a barbaric viking pony charged them.

Bowie suddenly came from a side passage to attack the viking pony, while Balance also fired a... cat? at the Viking.

Amber whinnied "Let me help too!" and levitated the wool blanket out of her saddlebag to wrap around the viking' s face.

She turned to see the Doctor as he stepped out next to Balance "Good to have you back sir."

Should we come up with a posting order? MuffinTop just asked. If nothing else, Pumpkin Cake should probably be the next character up in the thread.

Amber Wands gasped as the wall dropped away revealing the zombie ponies "Strange. they dont have cutie marks..." (yay, the blanks are rising ;P )

Before the frightened mare could think of something they were surrounded by symbols and all got their horns back.

" Balloon? Wait! there Twilight's TIara! Are these REALLY the Elements of Harmony?! I think we'd better take them along!"

She yays! as a wand is found for her. "I hope it will work, it looks a lot like an old one I lost..."

When she waved her wand at it, a surge of chocolate syrup shot out of the tip like a fire hose, knocking down a few zombieponies and launching her down the new opening everypony was heading for. "What the HAYyyyy! Okay, do not use unti we get out of the freakin maze! Got it!"

Amber eeps as Balance runs a little way ahead. She quickly leaves the TARDIS and follows him "Hurry! We cant let him go on alone! He might get trapped!"

She trots along until he stops when the hedges drop.

"Hmm, Since most ponies are right-hooved, most pick the right side, how about the left chest since that would not be obvious?"

(OOC: Considering The Doctor is an alien in pony form and the rather bizzare surfaces the TARDIS has landed on in all these years, I dont think magic-based clouds would be all that odd for either to handle. He was inexplicably seen in the Sonic Rainboom episode with wings after all..

Amber ooofed and rolled off the dogpile of ponies atop the Doctor "*whew* Thanks for the timely arrival, Doctor. We must find an object capable of fighting Discord and he took all our horns and wings and weapons. and if we cannot find the item, he wins!"

She looked at the doorway, "Um, by the way, those thing cant break in if they climb out, right?"

Amber nodded as she trotted along, trying not to miss any detail around them, like that spreading crack in the ground...

She gasped when it spit open before she could say anything and decaying hooves reached for them. " RUN!"

The mare kept close to Balance since now would be a perfect time for the maze to seperate them.

Suddenly, Balance ran full tilt into another earth pony... no, wait! It was POTEY, Without his horn!

Amber yelped and recoiled in panic, but he was apologizing to her, and his colors werent' greyed anymore...

She ulped and glanced back the way they came "Um yes, I-i forgive you. We are r-running from zombie ponies right now. If you'll tell us how you got un-discorded when we stop, I suggest more running and less talking..."

Flim and Flam were definitely playing with a stacked deck and did everything they could to "honestly" (Well as far as a Canterlot court of law would rule they did it "leagally" and "honestly"..) set up the competition, even going so far as to snottily say "SO?.." and roll it into a normal reply of "..what will it be?" when AJ said they would lose the farm if they agreed to this.

They could not imagine they were going to be dealing with all the mane 6 and their unique talents. I have to wonder if they even knew AJ was a heroine of Equestria and a bearer of the Element of Honesty?

If the two had kept the farm, I imagine their shady management practices would have the farm become a 40 acre desert in a year..

Flim levitated his hat off to hang off the chair back after fanning himself for a moment with it.

He saw how Reno had reacted to his understandable reaction to seeing such beautiful bits leaving at once.

The dapper unicorn blushed sheepishly at the waitress' words and tried to gloss over them, making sure not to sing since that seemed to not be welcome in here.

"*ahem* Er, yes.. It seems appropriate to give such a lovely unicorn as yourself one of our samples as a tip for the inconvenience of our...tardyness." *..and a little buttering up so she will wear it as a living billboard and be willing to speak nicely of us would not hurt our sales a bit...* he thought.

Flim smiled broadly "And, I think our Cousin Reno could do with tasting some of the other fine fare in this eatery. I shall have a sampler platter and sparkling grape juice, lf you please, ma'am."

He turned to Reno, determined to at least present a good outcome and lesson of this meal to their innocent cousin. "I am sure we cant wait to hear how you got your cutie mark, Dear Cousin Reno.

Would you care to try a little of anything on our plates when they arrive? I'm sorry if you saw that look on my face... It's a little life lesson called "Pay your bills on time!" Remember that look when you promise to pay someone later for something, Dear Cousin."

He smiled "Anyway, we have plenty of Bits now that our apple supplies have been refreshed, So do not worry about us running out of money."

*..this week..* he thought.*...I Wonder... Buying Sweet Apple Acre apples directly got our flanks beat like rugs. Would Reno be willing to order apples for us next time? I'm sure he could use a few bits as finders fee... And who could say no to selling apples to that face?*

Amber was about to head along with Balance when Discord appeared again "Oh No! Not again!"

To her immense relief, Nemisis and Bowie appeared between them and the master of Chaos.

She had read the reports prepared after the last time by Twilight Sparkle so she knew what was coming next. One of the reasons she had stayed out of the maze before -just n case.

It was still a dizzying sensation to lose her horn as thourougly as if she had never had one.

Shaking her head to clear it "Oh great! My wand and now my horn..."

When she looked up the walls shifted to separate them all but her and Balance... She had to start wondering if there was more to his chaos resistance than luck of the draw...

She nickered as she followed along "You got it, I read what the heroines went through in here, I'm sticking close to you. I dont want to be Discorded and that seems to happen when a pony is alone.

Amber nodded sadly when Balance said Potey would be Discorded until Discord was imprisoned or.. Her mind started racing silently to herself *A memory spell? How does he know these things? Does he know the spell?*

Her train of thought crashed before she could ask if he knew the spell when he mentioned her mane, making her blush and give a shy smile "Perhaps not the best time to bring it up.. but thank you."

Her smile was short lived when Potey wanted to turn her back into amber again. Terrified, she followed Balance as the fight heated up with real flames and the maze wall rustled as the magical hedge closed behind the pair.

"Oh Celestia! Should we wait for Firehart? You are all about the truth, Will that give you an advantage finding the way in this maze of lies?"

Amber eeps and gets behind Fireheart as well when the discorded pony comes around the corner "Potey! Please! Remember who you are!"

(OOC: I hope you change your mind later Silver)

Amber ulped as ponies started attacking, backing up then turning and jumping into the maze "Wait for me!"

Amber whewed in relief at the news the Princesses were safe from Discord.

Then Fireheart gave her some good news bout her problem. She stood still, something disturbingly easy to do for her as amber and waited.

The unicorn gasped as she felt herself soften into flesh and bone "Oh Thank you! I'll have to be on my guard to keep Potey or Strife from doing that to me again on purpose! I'm sure Discord is greatly amused by the promise of a living gemstone to make a chaos stone from..."

Amber Wands ulped, Even her time in the palace for investigations of magical mysteries had never taken her to the garden and it's maze. Something had always seemed off to her about it after Discord's escape last time.

Wait a moment, could that be it? is there something of Discord in there? She tried closing her eyes to focus and see if she could detect them now, but found the eyelids unable to move. With a sigh, she focused on the maze. It felt like there was something there, but she could not place it just yet.

"All right, I will go in too." She looked at Fireheart "Are the Princesses still safe? And is there anything that can be done about my transformation into living amber? Or must we imprison Discord before it can be undone?"

Flim winked at the pretty waitress mare. "Of course, of course, my good mare. Say no more on it and we shall refrain from singing. We have had a very good week with sales (after a trying week getting resupplied...) I have kept a talley on what we owe this fine eating establishment..."

He double-checks the figure on the paper in his hat and looks pained for a moment, then counts out a stack of bits a hoof high. Putting up an honest front can be so trying at times... "And a little extra for you, my dear." as he floats a small bottle of their apple perfume beside the stack. Consider it a free sample to impress the mare... If either of them can woo this mare, a little extra food slipped their way in dates would be nice... "-And I do promise a cash tip after we dine."

He looked to Reno "Pick what you will, Dear Cousin. Their food is Nonpareil, and the desserts are to die for."

The living amber mare looked at Fireheart "Sorry for our interruption, it is as he says. And the corrupted Poty wans to capture me and present me to Discord as a ..a jewel! I think i am safer here." Amber hmmed "I wonder if my being affected by Discord's magic might help me sense it? I'll definitely try to keep my mind on that as we search."

Moments after Silver and his friend had saved her and Nemisis, the capture bubble had burst and released her.

She wobbled to her transparent hooves as a worried Balance asked her to check him over. "I dont see anything so far. No bat wings, wierd colors, or gender shifting, or other strange things. Maybe its luck of the draw, its on a time delay, or... Could holding that stone for even a few moments have made you temporarily immune? After all, the bearers of the discord stones cant use them if they are growing tentacles and stuff, right?"

Just then, the badly wounded Potey had vanished.

The Doctor had used his high tech wand.. er, sonic screwdriver to call his transportation., and asked her and the others to get in. She bowed to him "Thanks anyway Doctor. Balance is right, I'm only half as powerful as before without my wand, and I'm breakable now. I need to go with him instead"

Suddenly, Strife was spotted returning, and Balance called her and Nemisis closer, and she felt him grab her. Her ancient pine scent filled Balance's nose. "Hurry! I dont want to know what he's going to do to me!"

A moment of disorientation later, she shook her head and woke up when Balance announced they were in the Canterlot Royal Gardens.

She looked around, feeling a bit strange among all those statues ow that she was a type of stone herself.