brianblackberry

Braeburn smiled with pride. Any praise for the farm made his heart swell; it was a labor of love after all, a monument to the can-do mentality of hard working farmer folks in general and the Apple family in particular. This was the first time he heard to it described like an oasis; he liked that comparison. [colour=#daa520]“Aww thanks Miss Willow. Truth is, it’s ah done through hard work, grit, and determination; thar is no secret or anything to how w’all did this. We just wanted to make ah new home for ourselves. Believe it or not though, this area isn’t ah true desert, it’s more of ah steppe. Just w’all have to be extra careful since w’all have to depend on natural weathers for rain out here.”[/colour]

It was true, because of the fact Applelossa was so far out on the frontier, pegasai didn’t regularly control the weather like they did in most of Equestria, which explained the harsher climate. In the Pinto, ponies had to rely on the occasional natural storm and the water underground, and hope prankster griffins didn’t cause too much of a weather fuss, although that was rare.

The goldenrod stallion picked up a watering can as he watched Willow Wisp use her magic on the seedling, curious to see what effect it would have on the mysterious kernel. She said something about how her magic had a weird effect but when the seeding appeared, it looked completely normal; it was even green, he figured it would be black from what she said before. “[colour=#daa520]Hey!! That’s darn tooting! Maybe y’all have your dam’s talent w’th plants also! A regular mistress of magic!”[/colour]

Braeburn brought forward the watering can, determined to do his part to start their first tree together. He sprinkled some of the fresh water on the tiny plant. Before he could react though, the seedling suddenly turned a much darker shade and shot upward as a young tree, knocking Braeburn back. The goldenrod stallion fell flat on his back, the watering can landing right on his noggin, knocking him silly.

.

This is the official thread for information and chatting about the tenth episode of season 3 - "Keep Calm and Flutter On"! Fluttershy gets her first feature episode of the new season, and in this round she'll be playing the role of counselor. Her client; well we will say he is most unusual. The episode airs at (9:30am Central/10:30am Eastern on January 19th).

This thread will not be locked and thus commenting is open as soon as you see this; remember though, there are spoilers in the comments section so read at your own risk if you haven't seen the episode!

Carrot Fields smiled awkwardly in front of the griffin dealer, he did actually know what he wanted, one of the adorable Daring Do plushes, oh and the brushable action figure! Those were both so cool! Well to a total Daring Do fancolts like himself. Still… He was embarrassed about the idea of buying them for himself, [colour=#ff8c00]"weel ah was gist looking' at some figures fur mah baby sister! Let's see…"[/colour]

Before he could pick out his purchases, one of the other mares dressed like Daring Do came flying by, swiped one of the props and took off. Carrot was still impressed how accurate she looked, and cute too! Of course so was Dash, she was spot on with that paint job he did. He hoped she was still having a blast and he was glad to be of such a help to her getting in, even if he felt pretty lonely now. Oh well, at least he can still get the figures. [colour=#ff8c00]"Sooo.. Ah ink she woods want 'at large Darin' Dae plush, an' ummm…"[/colour] There he spotted a cute little Daring Do and Princess Veil action figure set; Carrot pointed to the pair and smiled broadly, trying not to allow any red to show through the gray of his fur, [colour=#ff8c00]"'at set right thaur, she will loove 'at!"[/colour]

Perhaps things will be alright after all, that is until that annoying reporter pegasus made a reappearance. Carrot didn't honestly expect to see him again, and right away this same pegasus came out with the insults. This guy was a reporter? Carrot starts to answer; [colour=#ff8c00]"Och, nae, Ah never wanted tae be an athlete, Ah was always tay busy wi' farm work. This is th' first one ah ever got tae go tae, because it's th' first time one's bin in th' same town aam liven' in..."[/colour] And then he trails off, getting distracted as a dozen cute mares wearing dancing mare costumes from "Daring Do and the Lost Oasis" walk past, his neck craning. [colour=#ff8c00]"Uh ... and I ... um ... went to ... uh ... scuse me. You stay retie hair an' keep bin' bitter, old, an' washed-up. I'm gonnae gang get a picture of those mares, an' hae fun."[/colour]

Carrot smiled to the griffin dealer, [colour=#ff8c00]"ah'll be right back wit' bits!"[/colour]

[colour=#ff8c00]Carrot Fields[/colour]

He had successfully defended the cake! It was about as worthy of story and song as all his time in the REA - which was to say, not difficult. He would have stayed there all afternoon if his sister had needed him, but he was glad he didn't have to. [colour=#ff8c00]"Cheers Purple! I'll see whit ah can dae for ponies haur." [/colour]He blushed at the fillies comment but instead of quipping back he just gave his little sis a hug, [colour=#ff8c00]"I'll be back suin, nae way we canna have ponies try your delicious cake!"[/colour]

How could he help? It looked like all the tipsy foals had successfully been calmed down, the farm animals shooed back out of the barn, and he certainly wasn't any good at cooking, as his sister could most assuredly testify - but he heard a wail and a commotion outside. His curiosity piqued, Carrot followed the noise.

Upon exiting the barn, Carrot was greeted by a surprising, if a little humorous, scene. There was Rainbow Dash, fleeing before a the swarm of angry, pecking, scratching chickens. Carrot stood in stunned immobility for only a moment before moving into action. He a beeline gallop to a nearby opened bad of feed an quickly grabbed it with his teeth and tossed it the chicken's way, it's contents spilling out all over the grass. No surprise the chickens instantly went for the food and forgotten everything else; if there was one lesson any farmer knew about poultry it was that they were surely stupid.

Carrot looked at the single smashed egg that had landed on Dash's flank as she'd been fleeing the chickens. [colour=#ff8c00]"Now ye kin get as many eggs as ye need. These birds winnae e'en notice!"[/colour] Carrot grinned proudly, to be the dashing stallion, saving the day by ... tricking chickens ... eh, he'd take it.

[colour=#800080]Cheerilee[/colour]

Cheerilee watched in amazement as each foal succumbed to the hypnotic effect of the swirling pendulum. One by one each of the tipsy little ponies dozed off into dreamy bliss; it was just the opportunity they needed to take care of the mess and get the party back on track!

She just needed to relax first, if just for a little bit. She felt tired suddenly… Maybe if she just closed her eyes for a moment.

[colour=#008000]“Looks like your students haven’t outgrown naptime yet, eh Cheerilee?”[/colour]

Cheerilee suddenly opened her eyes upon hearing Ingrid, [colour=#800080]"huh? What?"[/colour] The purple mare rubbed her eye with her forehoof. [colour=#800080]"Oh… Umm, yeah I guess they still have a bit of growing up to do!" [/colour] Hrrrm, that wasn't a very funny response.

Quickly collecting her thoughts as she smiled awkwardly, Cheerilee gave the beige unicorn a hug, [colour=#800080]"thank you though, I was almost at my wit's end on how to salvage this whole thing. Never in school have I ever had a day like this, and have I ever had some whoppers of a day. Ask me to tell you about the Tiny Apple Valley field trip sometime!"[/colour] The purple earth pony mare gave quick look around, [colour=#800080]"shall we clean this place up? With luck, when the foals wake up, the new food will be ready and this room won't look like it got the business end of a tornado."[/colour]

Braeburn chucked as the listened to Willow Wisp’s backstory; he had completely forgotten about the errie blue glow that the black unicorn mare emitted in the dark. He always figured it was something that came to be when she entered fillyhood as an aspect of her blossoming unicorn magic, it had never occurred to Braeburn that a pony would be born with a magic aura! Her parents seemed to have taken it well; maybe such things weren’t that unusual with unicorns?

[colour=#daa520]“Ah have to admit, when ah first saw your glow, ah was a bit… uhh, surprised.” [/colour] Truth was he was scared, he hadn’t known that it was Willow at first, and managed to trip all over himself in fright. Not his best moment. Braeburn again rubbed the back of his mane nervously.[colour=#daa520] “Ah admit, at first ah wasn’t sure what to all make of it, but once I got used to y’all glowing, I found it quite fetchin’…”[/colour]

Brabeurn blushed, that no doubt sounded awkward and dorky, and what kind of compliment was it to a mare that the magic they can’t control glow is ‘fetchin’”?! [colour=#daa520] “Well ummm… anyway, that’s pretty dog gone interestin’ tale, and ah’ll bet there aint much knowledge of all them supernatural stuff, so y’all probably got an exciting job discovering all sorts of new thangs, or um, old thangs! Shall we’ll go plant them there seeds now?” [/colour] It was as good as time as any given how much Braeburn flet he was flubbing his compliments to the pretty mare.

With the bag of seeds in his mouth, Braeburn trotted out to the far edge of his homestead, an isolated area that was bereft of apple trees. The area was nothing but an open field of short grass with a small creek than ran nearby which marked the boundary of the goldenrod stallion’s land. “[colour=#daa520]This looks like ah good spot, ah figure this way it be safe no matter what happened.” [/colour] With that scraped the ground with his forehoof and carefully dropped one of the seeds into the scarp before covering it back up with the soil. [colour=#daa520]“Shall we water first or y’all want to try magic first?”[/colour]

Braebrun beamed with pride and joy, if there is one surefire way to get to an Apple’s heart, it is by complimenting their cooking. [colour=#daa520] “Ah’m glad you love the pie. Ah can’t take credit for makin’ it all mahself, my little cousin Apple Pie did most of the work, and the crust came from ah friendly pony called Honeysuckle, that’s the apiarist ah mentioned earlier. Oh I do have more if ya’ll wanna take some back with y’all to Ponyville!”[/colour]

Braeburn chuckled as Willow Wisp complimented on how the earth ponies of the family do so well, but it just came natural to them. [colour=#daa520]“Taking care of animals and making things grow, that’s our earth pony specialty; our own brands of magic ah guess y’all could say. Sure it isn’t outward or thru dem spells, but through innate understandin’ of the earth and all living things. It’s similar to have th’ pegasai can just control the weather as if it’s all second nature to ‘em.”[/colour]

Braeburn closed the bag of seeds and smiled, [colour=#daa520]“still ah wouldn’t think it hurt if y’all did try some of yer unicorn magic on the seed, we can do that once y’all are finished with the pie.” [/colour] He had no idea how Willow’s unicorn magic would affect the seed, yet again he had no idea what would happen in general once it was planted. At least there was an open space at the edge of the farm with nothing but short steppe grass; they could plant it there, a safe distance from anything else. Who knows it could be a whole new tasty brand of apple that be a best selling treat, and his farm would be the only supplier!

Just as interesting to Braeburn was the fact the pretty unicorn mare mentioned that most of her family were of earth pony stock. [colour=#daa520]“Sounds like you come from a family of florists and herbalists! Ah wonder if any of them live here in good ol’ APPPPPLLOOSA! We do have a few gardener types around! I hope y’all don’t mine me asking though, what all got you into ghosts and the supernatural? Did it all have to do with yer father’s specialty?”[/colour]

Martini Paradise blushed wide eyed at Shining Armor's joking suggestion that the royal couple take Martini home with them. Sure it was said in jest, and sure it was mainly in reference to her bartending skills, but it was still a shock to hear, especially when Martini let her mind briefly wander to what else such a situation would entail with the beautiful couple. She shook her head back into reality and took another sip of the amazing vintage - It was really hard to describe, it was like drinking an elixir of love and compassion.

As Martini listened to the alicorn princess' story of her father it dawned upon her this is the very first time she ever heard about any of the parents of the royals. The very concept of any of the princesses having parents never even occurred to the unicorn barmare before, but it made sense - Every other pony had parents, so why shouldn't the alicorns, right?

Cadance's description of her education sounded much like Martini imagined it would, and a clear contrast to the unicorn mare's own sad lack of formal schooling. What did surprise Martini was Cadance's curiosity about Martini's other hobbies. Not many ever asked Martini what she was into, mostly it was the barmare listening to whatever the customer found interesting about their own life. [colour=#cc6699]"Well as much as I enjoy doing this, I have just as much passion for the outdoors, especially the forest and the beach! I love the beach… Grew up on the Gallopocous actually and its so very beautiful, but you probably knew that already."[/colour] Martini blushed as she smiled and took another slip of her drink, [colour=#cc6699]"lately I have been more into delving into exploring mysterious ruins, caves, and even getting into archeology! All thanks to a one Brazil Nut!" [/colour]

Martini blushed some more at that last sentence, she was really becoming infatuated with the earth pony explorer, she just wasn't sure if he liked her in the same way. Of course she now wanted to ask the princess of love for advice, but she didn't want to impose - Cadance and Shining were her customers, after all.

[colour=#cc6699]"Speaking of fascinating and far off places, that vineyard sounds amazing, do you still visit it today? I'd sure love to see what wonderful wines are produced there!"[/colour]

Trixie snickered at Pathfinder's "nice hooves" comment towards the brown earth pony as she laid there on her side, wrapped in her old lavender gray blanket, [colour=#6699cc]"you know Pathfinder, he's single and available!" [/colour]Trixie smirked; she couldn't help herself when it came to getting in a few barbs at the Doctor; it wasn't as if she disliked him or anything, it just amused her to see him put on the spot in any occasion.

Trixie started to drift off once Whooves got his wagon engine working; she still didn't understand how that whole contraption worked, but it did, and despite the humming noise, it kept the inside of the wagon warm. She didn't even mind that he laid down right next to her; as long as he kept his back to her and not make any moves, she welcomed the extra warmth.

Trixie mind wandered into a dream state, visions of the Staff filled her dreamy head as she envisioned using its secrets to somehow become the greatest show mare on all of Equestria! Her magical shows featuring magnificent three-dimensional stories brilliantly displayed across the entire sky in a dazzling cornucopia of colours; adoring fans showing her with flowers and bits, as well as their adoration, lots of adoration. Her stage then morphed into an opulent room where she sat on a luxurious silken bed, eating delicious fruit sherbet on golden plates. Beautiful maidens fanning her…

That fanning was getting a bit too hurried… Trixie's eyes suddenly blinked open, a gray shaded tail swinging back and forth covered her immediate view. [colour=#6699cc]"Hey! The Great and Powerful Trixie is trying to get her beauty sleep! You think looking *this* good is easy!?"[/colour] Trixie picked up the annoying pegasus mare, along with her pen and paper, with her magic and turned her around so the tail would be facing away from the now very annoyed unicorn, before plopping Pathfinder unceremoniously back onto floor. [colour=#6699cc]"There! Now try to write quietly!"[/colour]

With that Trixie covered her face with her blanket, determined to get through this night with at least a few hours of sleep.

Braeburn looked shocked, the very concept of not being fed on the train, it was barbaric! There is nothing like a good meal; after all what is better than eating? Well maybe sleeping, or Wild West dances; but if there is one great thing Apples have a love for, it is food! [colour=#daa520]"Well take as much pie as you like! It has a honey glazed crust, and the honey's fresh too! We'll have an apiary here in APPPPPPLEELOOSA now! Can y'all believe it? Our town is really growin'!"[/colour]

[colour=#daa520]"As for our last reunion, 'tis were a big one! Not the biggest, but plenty of Apples showed up from all over, boy howdy. Oh! Would you believe we have pegasus and unicorn Apples?! Tis' true! Met a pegasus cuzin' named Sugar Apple and a unicorn cuzin' named Greenshot! Just goes to show, y'all don't need to be a good ol' earth pony to be a part of our family!"[/colour] Braeburn gave a playful wink with that last statement.

As much as he liked flirting what really piked his interest was Willow's story about where she had been. Before he met the mysterious black unicorn mare he never thought he would ever have an interest in the magical, or the mysterious, let alone the spooky, but he had to admit, that adventure with the Spirit Lanterns was the most fun he had in a very long time, and it only made him more curious about what other supernatural mysteries were out there. He listened intently but couldn’t help looking perplexed at the mention of black skinned apples that were blue on the inside; could such a thing even exist naturally?

There they were though in front of him, well the seeds at least. [colour=#daa520] "Ah gotta admit ah never heard of such thing in all my years, never have I heard from all the stories told around the Apple family gatherings about black skinned blue apples!"[/colour] Braeburn pulled open the pouch and looked with reserved curiosity at the seeds, they looked like any other. He wasn’t sure about them at all, but what he was sure of is that he didn’t want to insult her by not accepting them, [colour=#daa520]"well ah guess they can't be any more mysterious than zap apples, right?"[/colour] She did say the researchers tried them and they were safe and even good tasting. [colour=#daa520]“Ah suppose we can try planting one later on the edge of the farm, just to see how it goes.”[/colour]

Braeburn was proud their adventure together helped Willow’s career, but his mind quickly wandered to what that meant in the long term. Braeburn rubbed the back of his mane again with his hoof, [colour=#daa520]“soo uhh.. Does that mean y’all will be doing ‘em long term trips all the time now?”[/colour]

Carrot Fields head crooked to the right as his left eye brow raised, was Applejack serious about wanting the carrot veggie sausages because they were spicier? She could barely handle charromangas despite the good front she attempted to put up. It was no surprise then her reaction when she finally had one of the sausages. Purple Haze was right, those were specifically for Carrot and his sis, not because they wouldn't share them but because the sausages were known for their extra spiciness, one that even a Carrot family member had to grow tolerant of over years of eating them. One does not simply chow into Mordo- er ... carrot-bean sausages!

[colour=#ff8c00]"We hae some milk left Purple…"[/colour] Before he could complete his sentence, his resourceful sister took off and came back with a pint of the vanilla ice cream originally for the pie; even more effective in helping quench the fire in the orange mare's throat! [colour=#ff8c00]"ah guess we shoods have mentioned th' sausages ur one of those specialty dishes ay th' Carrot clans knoon fur their extreme spiciness. In fact they have annual contests back at Fet Loch fur th' sausages an' one ay th' categories is "most spicy"; Purple hair is usually one of th' finalists, she is a right stoatin cook!"[/colour]

Carrot pushed forward the salad and the pie as suitable alternatives. "try these, ah ink you'll loch them e'en more!" He hoped to encourage his guests to go with the mild, safe foods without calling any attention to their inexperience with the spicy fare. Now that dessert was out, there at least be no more spicy surprises and they could get down to the business of eating and enjoying each other's company. [colour=#ff8c00]"So campaign'! ah ink we can surely dae 'at these weekend! 'At Galloping Glades sound retie fun, we have never bin thaur ourselves, we can make a whole weekend of it if ye aw know of some other nearby places. At nicht Ah can shaw ye aw th' constellations, mebbe we'll e'en catch a few shootin' stars!"[/colour]

Trixie just rolled her eyes and sighed, why did Whooves always spend so much time with the talking and so little time actually doing anything? The mentioning of food didn’t help her patience any, as instead of finding the promised gourmet meal they ended up with a plate full of mechanical monsters and near disaster! Now that she thought about it, that was how things usually went. It was as if catastrophe followed them, or… No, that couldn’t be it could it? Did he actually instinctively know where and when the next catastrophe was going to be and purposely arrange to be there??

Trixie shook her head, that couldn’t be it, there was no way he would have foresight; he was an earth pony, just an earth pony!

Right?

Trixie quickly dismissed her conspiracy theory, it was time to go, and food was simply one more reason. [colour=#6699cc]“Well the Great and Powerful Trixie believes the good Doctor here owes us both a real meal after today’s adventure, don’t you Lyra hon? “[/colour] Trixie climbed into the wagon herself, ready to go, and to drive that point home she lifted Whooves with her magic and carried in right into the wagon next to her, dropping him flat in front of the controls. [colour=#6699cc]“Now why don’t you be a dear for Lyra and Trixie and get this contraption of yours going so we can find something nice to eat; you wouldn’t want to disappoint us beautiful ladies.”[/colour]

Trixie turned to Lyra smiling and offered her forehoof to help the mint green unicorn aboard. [colour=#6699cc]“The lovely and single Trixie is pleased you’ll be joining us for dinner. It’ll be great, two lovely mares on the ocean, the warm breeze in our manes, and you can regale to Trixie all about what brought your lovely self here in the first place.”[/colour]

[colour=#cc99cc]Flitter[/colour]

Flitter was letting her emotions get the better of her as she sulked in silence at the bar counter, contemplating what drink to try. Something strong, something to show she could hang with all the tough flyers here. [colour=#cc99cc]“Could I have a tall cider, please? The strongest you have.” [/colour] As Flitter waited for her drink, she couldn’t help but wonder what Cloudchaser was hiding from her; didn’t her fillyfriend trust her enough? Didn’t they share everything? What was it about the storm or the night that Cloudchaser didn’t want to tell? Flitter’s mind started to wander into all sorts of unfounded possibilities, each more unlikely and more depressing then the last. Just as the mug of hard cider arrived Flitter even contemplated that perhaps her marefriend was having some kind of illicit affair…

[colour=#cc6699]“Here you go, dear!” [/colour]The forlorn Flitter jolted out of her unfounded paranoia as the cider was placed before her. She needed to keep a level head about this; there was no reason to start suspecting the worst without evidence.

Flitter just sighed, fighting her instinct to turn around and see if Cloudchaser was alright as her fillyfriend thumped around clumsily and muttered about the cloud. She took a long drink instead, the cider was strong! Almost too much so and she had to work hard not to choke it up, determined to finish it. Something did happen, something bad! Why not talk about it?!

She looked about the bar; most of the other ponies were engaged in conversation except one yellow coloured pegasus with a dark mane. She seemed so isolated. Flitter didn’t recognize her from ay of the storm teams either, but she had the look of a strong flyer. Flitter took another long drink, feeling warm inside, and more bold. The light lavender mare walked up to and sat next to Acclaim, [colour=#cc99cc]“Hi! My name is Flitter, what’s yours? Were you helping with the storms, also? I was! Didn’t see you there, so I figured I’d ask. Are you from here?” [/colour]Flitter had a big grin on her face and took another long gulp of her drink?

[colour=#cc6699]Martini Paradise[/colour]

Martini Paradise listened attentively to Pocket Change’s story about the dig he was at; as her own interest in archeology and adventure was considerable thanks to her association with a certain handsome professional adventurer, a one Brazil Nut. [colour=#cc6699]“You mention the mages found something, any clue to what it was? Or are they keeping it all hush hush?”[/colour] As a unicorn, Pocket Change knew magic, but Martini herself was all too well aware, being a unicorn certainly didn’t automatically privilege one to access to the various magical mysteries of the land, especially if they were deemed dangerous by the royal mages.

Martini was also more curious about the rainbow maned mare, mainly because Pocket Change kept playing her up as some great hero. Like most other ponies, Martini knew of the Elements of Harmony and that there exist the six bearers, but other than “Twilight Sparkle”, Martini didn’t even knew their names, let alone ever met one. [colour=#cc6699]“So our rainbow maned guest, she is one of the actual avatars for the Elements? Is she in the R.E.A? A personal guard of Celestia maybe?”[/colour] That sounded about right for somepony who bears something so important, right?

Listening also to Misty Morning’s stories, Martini got the impression that being a Wonderbolt mainly consisted of pranks and pitfalls. She actually visibly shuddered as she imagined what it must have been like to put on a fur tight suit, and those suits were definately form fitting, something Martini lingered on a little too much when her daughter show pics of some of those stallions in them.

Even more interesting was Misty's story of the unicorn that was tumbling to her demise aftering knocking the Wonderbolt silly; despite what Pocket Changed said, that unicorn didn’t sound much like “a hero of Equestia”. [colour=#cc6699]“So.. What happened next? How did you get out of that situation? Since your cute self managed to grace our bar, you must have gotten out of that mix up somehow!”[/colour] Martini smiled warmly as she poured another cool lemon water for the Wonderbolt mare.

Just then Martini heard a loud thump, one of the other guests, the ice blue spiky maned pegasus, somehow slammed her chin on the bar counter. Martini trotted over as she magically stood the pegasus mare back onto all fours in front of the bar, [colour=#cc6699]“are you alright hun??”[/colour]

Braeburn smiled, and even blushed a little at Willowisp's complement, it really had been a long time since he seen her and her kind words served to remind him of that time together in the caves, especially those more awkward moments.

The goldenrod stallion took off his Stetson and held it to his chest, his unkempt mane blowing wildly in the warm steppe wind. [colour=#daa520]"Ah received it six months, two weeks and three… Umm, ah mean its been ah while."[/colour] Braeburn rubbed the back of his mane with his hoof, [colour=#daa520]"so, uh its good to see ya back in good ol' APPPLELOOSAAA!"[/colour]

It didn't take a genius to realize the black unicorn was feeling a bit nonplussed and concerned about being gone for so long. Braeburn wasn't upset, but he was pretty curious what had all happened top her over these last few months. [colour=#daa520]“Ya’ll got a gift for the farm?! Well golly, that’s a mighty sweet of ya! Say! Why don’t cha come on in and you can show me what it is and tell all about what ya’ll been up to! I'd be mighty curious!”[/colour] With that Braeburn quickly placed his Stetson back on and pushed Willowisp's side side with his head, moving the unicorn mare right through the open door of his house all the way to his living room before stopping.

[colour=#daa520]“Settle in, and I’ll get ya some grub, mah cousin makes some of the best pies in APPPPLELOOSA and we still have plenty!”[/colour] Brabeurn walked over to the open kitchen to grab one of the honey glazed pies and quickly returned smiling. “[colour=#daa520]As for lil’ ol’ me, well been doing much the same ah’m afraid… Oh! I did visit your town again for another reunion… Wish I could of brought ya along.” [/colour]Braeburn looked a little forlorn for a few second, but quickly shook it off, he didn’t want her to feel guilty. He placed a slice of the pie before her and sat down across the coffee table grinning broadly, [colour=#daa520]“so now, let’s hear all about ya’ll exciting adventures!”[/colour]

Cheerilee was taken aback, feeling awkward, yet flattered as well. Nopony had taken the time to say something like that to her in a long time, and Bumpkin deserved a response. However the foals came first, and it was time to get back to them, so such an answer will have to wait. Cheerilee gave Bumpkin a reassuring smile, [colour=#800080]"well hopefully the students haven't caused too much of a ruckus for Miss Zecora while we were gone."[/colour]

Hopefully…

Cheerilee walked back out into the main room where the juice presser with all its various locomotions stood, [colour=#800080]"Miss Zecora, I hope the class haven't given you too much trou-" [/colour]Cheerilee stopped in mid-sentence as she was greeted by the presser wheel spinning at such a high speed that it was starting to come loose, the foals inside had since lost control. Zecora was already inside trying to slow it down before it broke loose, or equally as bad, have the poor student flying out it in every which way! [colour=#800080]"Hold on guys, I'm coming!!"[/colour]

Cheerilee, not knowing what else to do, jumped right in using her hooves to press against the wheel along side Zecora, hoping that their combined efforts would be enough to stop the wheel. Unfortunately by this time Sweetie Belle and Ruby Pinch had already been carried by the wheel's momentum up and over to where they crashed right into the still running Applebloom. The mass of stunned foals collided with Cheerilee, causing her to fall backwards into Zecora, resulting in the whole lot of them being spun full circle in the slowing wheel one more time until they found themselves laying still at the bottom, eyes and heads spinning. In the case of Cheerilee, she found herself sprawled on top on Zecora, muzzle to muzzle with the zebra. Cheerilee blushed fiercely as she quickly sat up, [colour=#800080]"s-sorry Miss Zecora!" [/colour]

Cheerilee quickly looked around as she took a head count, at least all four of the foals wear there, safe and sound, if not a little dizzy. She started to feel pretty guilty about the whole situation, would this had happened if she hadn't left the room? One thing was for sure, the students needed an adult with them for each part of the machine, the last thing Cheerilee needed was explaining to the Mayor why the school had to pay for a whole broken juice maker. Well at least nothing else seemed out of place.

Just then Cheerilee heard a yell that echoed through the entire farm, causing her to leap up on all fours, eyes wide like saucers. As out of nowhere, Cheerilee then found herself face to face with a ruddy maned mare exclaiming why she was suddenly there. It was Haywire's sister! Cheerilee knew her from all those times she either picked up Haywire from detention, or when had those conferences about her baby sister's scampish behavior. Cheerilee's eyes just darted from side to side in surprise, wondering where Haywire even was. [colour=#800080] "Uhh… Well, it is alright Miss Haymaker, we have everything under control and settled. I don't believe Miss Bumpkin here is requiring any payment for the… accident. Right Miss Bumpkin?"[/colour] Cheerilee gave an awkward smile Bumpkin's way, one of a 'please help me here' variety.

[colour=#800080]Cheerilee[/colour]

Cheerilee simply watched as Ingrid started her strange attempt with the pendulum in order to help Applebloom out of her inebriated stupor. At first Cheerilee had no clue what the beige unicorn mare had planned with such an instrument, but it soon became obvious Indrid was using the circular motions of the pendulum and her own magic to lull the filly into a soft slumber. It appeared to be working as Applebloom became less and less agitated and for the first time that night, quiet; maybe this was going to work out after all! [colour=#800080]"That's amazing Ingrid; I never saw a trick like this before."[/colour]

Cheerilee's next thought naturally turned to the question of the same trick working on the other three tiddly foals - Scootaloo, Guiding Light, and Nursery Rhyme. Sure snoozing foals don't make for much of a birthday party, but rest and liquids is what they need and perhaps they can recover in time. Cheerilee continued to sit behind the dosing Abby as Guiding Light came a quietly sat by her. The teacher mare watched with rapt curiosity at first, but soon she found herself getting a little drowsy. [colour=#800080]I can't believe I'm this tired already, it's barely sunset, I'm not some old mare![/colour] Still, she felt a sudden wave of lassitude come over her. [colour=#800080]Maybe if I just close my eyes for a moment, at least until Abby is asleep.[/colour]

Cherilee's eyes slid shut and for a brief moment she felt blissfully relaxed, filled with a vision of her vacationing in some distant tropical beach, perhaps the Gallopacous, she wasn't sure, but it felt comforting; beautiful blue waves making a calm soothing sound. She was lying on a blanket with some sort of fruity drink and flowers in her mane enjoying the quiet moment and feeling like a nap...

Suddenly there was a jarring noise of a ruckus and Cheeriee's eyes shot wide open as she shorted, "huh, what? Where?" It took only a moment, but she realized she was still back in the barn, a barn suddenly invaded by inebriated pigs and chickens! Cheerilee facehoofed, how can things get any crazier?! [colour=#800080]"Ingrid, just please stay with Applebloom and Guiding Light. Class! I need the rest of you to gather by Miss Marie! Now!" [/colour]She was in full on teacher mode, there was a problem to be solved and by golly she was going to solve it, even if she had no knowledge of animal herding!

[colour=#ff8c00]Carrot Fields[/colour]

Carrot Fields gave his sister a reassuring hug. Sure it was a bit silly to be standing watch over a cake in some makeshift fort as if they were foals playing pretend, but it was really important to Purple Haze this her centerpiece survive and he wasn't going to let her down!

Of course this party has been one catastrophe after another. It wasn't apparent to Purple but Carrot knew the signs of inebriation, somehow the other foals had something spiked. [colour=#ff8c00]"I'm pretty sure some ay th' foals ur a wee bit boak purple, thaur was somethin' nae reit in th' bevvy! Ah guess they shoods hae waitin' fur ye tae dae aw th' servin'."[/colour] He didn't want to come out and say they were all snookered, not really sure how Purple would react to that. [colour=#ff8c00]"Aam afraid they're gonnae hae tae tak' it easy fur a while sae they can gie better; aam sorry Purple." [/colour] He was starting to feel really bad for his sister, everything that could have gone wrong for her did, well all except for the cake, it at least was safe.

As if on cue, at that moment various inebriated animals came stumbling into the barn, raising a ruckus and getting into everything. One pig made a beeline for the opening in the bales of hay, no doubt smelling the cake. [colour=#ff8c00]"Ack ye don't!"[/colour] Carrot gave the hungry sow a good ol' headbutt, sending it tumbling backwards into the far wall. What the animals needed was a good rounding up but there was no way he was leaving his spot; he made a promise!

As Trixie listened to the Doctor talk about this Staff of Fate, she grew increasingly annoyed at Pathfinder’s constant interruptions, having to yell for the overly excited pegasus to shut up on more than one occasion. The only reason Trixie didn’t magically zip the scattered-brained winged pony’s mouth shut during the whole ordeal, other than Whooves disapproving, was because she kept revealing the details about other mystical artifacts of potential power; although Trixie was starting to suspect Pathfinder may have subsequently damaged, lost, or destroyed most of them. Whooves' contorted facial expressions during Pathfinder's regaling only seem to confirm this.

Despite all of this, the brown earth pony's recollection about the clues to the Staff's location and the various dangerous obstacles in their way were meticulously detailed, enough to convince Trixie they were genuine. She found it strange that he never once mentioned what the Staff actually does. He either didn't really know, possibly because he wasn't a unicorn, or he did and it was so amazing he didn't want to reveal it! Either way Trixie had to know, although this time she would be careful, she didn't want another Alicorn Amulet "incident" on her hooves.

As Trixie pondered her last fumbled attempt with artifacts of magic she heard the words "you two", and her eyes widened in recoiled horror! She was about to protest the very notion of being saddled with the clearly insane pegasus, well in any situation, but especially when it involved finding an artifact of no doubt untold power when Whooves appealed to the one aspect of her personality that would work - her pride. After suffering at being mocked and laughed at so many times after the Ursa incident, the fact that it appeared he truly believe in her was exhilarating. Maybe that was the real reason she stayed with him and not just the promise of new magical knowledge through mystical artifacts of yore. Still, it was Pathfinder, and Trixie sighed and rolled her eyes, [colour=#6699cc]"fiiiiiiine, but you owe Trixie for this one!"[/colour]

[colour=#6699cc]"We'll leave in the morning Pathfinder, just be sure to be ready and more importantly, be sure to follow the Great and Powerful Trixie's lead when we do! You have been blessed with a fortuitous opportunity, you shall have a mistress of magic there to help find the Staff!"[/colour] More importantly, to keep the crazy pegasus from breaking it before Trixie discovered what it did.

With that Trixie didn't have anything more to say and just levitated an old, well used blanket and walked to the corner opposite of the other two ponies to lay down on her side, covering herself. It was adequate and she was used to the cold, wooden floor of a wagon, [colour=#6699cc]"night… And try not to make too much noise, the tired and dreamy Trixie needs her sleep."[/colour]

To Carrot Fields, watching the three Daring Dos banter with Princess Veil was simply the best. Thing. Ever! The only thing that would have made it better is if he had a recorder of some kind, given the great improv between them. Thank Luna his sister Purple Haze packed his camera into his saddlebag, otherwise this would have been another moment lost, another dumbtail moment.

Carrot stepped back some so he could get the entirely of the scene before him in the lens and clicked away. It appeared none of the quartet even appeared to notice he was there, which was just fine by him as he wasn’t even supposed to be in the convention in the first place. At least Dash appeared to be blending in seamlessly with the paint job he did on her; who knew that he was such an artist!

After a few more pictures it was obvious to Carrot that he had faded into the background as far as Dash was concerned, and felt it was best to move on lest he start having the appearance of some hanger on, or worse, some obsessed fancolt. The dealer’s room was nearby; maybe he could find some sort of cool souvenir, or a collectable! For Purple Haze of course!

Leaving the Daring Dos to their ad libbing, Carrot Fields walked into the dealer’s den, not sure where to start, so he figured he'd just go with the closest table which happened to be that of “Gems & Trinkets Pawn Shop” ran by a griffin fella. Who would have thought it, Daring Do had griffin fans! He smiled broadly to the proprietor, [colour=#ff8c00]“awrite! Ah figure Ah woods be jist lookin', mebbe fur some collectables.. fur mah sister!”[/colour]

It's been too long since a geography update. Thanks to last weekend's episode, we now know for sure that these places are 100% show-canon locations: Yonder Hill, Hollow Shades, Galloping Gorge, Foal Mountain, and Tall Tale Town.

I agree, and we are working on ideas to redo our map to include new places and regions.

Carrot Fields stood there frozen. He wanted to bolt, he wanted to squeeze his eyes shut in preparation for the hoofsmack across the muzzle he so richly deserved, he just wanted it to end so he could craw into a hole in the Everfree forest; lord of the dumbtails.

Instead, something completely unexpected happened! At least to him.

Bolt wasn’t angry, hurt, or upset; instead she appeared to take to his little sister. More amazingly, she took to what his sister had done! Carrot was dumbfounded, but quickly shook himself out of it. Now wasn’t the time for his all too regular self-doubt to take reign again; the last thing he wanted to do is question Bolt on this because of his own apprehension, and instead just accepted that she was fine with it. Especially given that her response just demonstrated his feelings towards her to be valid; she was wonderful! He couldn’t blow the opportunity just hoofed to him now!

Carrot just chuckled as Purple Haze protested the word baby used in any description of her, even one of affection. [colour=#ff8c00]“Yeah, she is mah yoonger sister purple haze an' apparently mah shadaw too e'en if she is supposed tae be at haem daein' 'er hamework fur school!” [/colour]Carrot rubbed Purple’s mane affectionately to show he was no longer upset; well, mostly.

Everything looked like it was going to work out after all. Despite the oddity of the night, thanks to his wonderful sister. That is until his clueless sister asked that question! Seeesh! She is as blunt as their sire but without the social tact to avoid awkward situations! Or worse, purposely create them! [colour=#ff8c00]“Err.. umm, waw Purple Haze don’t ye hink 'at is a wee inappropriate an' presumptuoos!? Ah wanted tae shaw a kin' an' bonnie pony mah favorite pastime, ye shooldn’t be forcin' onie matchmakin'!”[/colour]

Carrot turned to Bolt, blushing, [colour=#ff8c00]“She can be a wee forward wi' 'er thooghts, heh! she didn’t mean anythin' by it, nae 'at.. ye ken, Ah wooldn’t want tae, jist hate tae see ye oan th' spot!”[/colour] He could just hope she wasn't uncomfortable now!

Well, I'm going to be leaving on a Study Abroad tour of Eastern Europe on the 1st, and immediately after shifting back to the college dorms for my last semester, so I'll be away for the better part of a month or so.

Sounds pretty exciting. Best of luck to you and we'll keep the place running for your return.

Braeburn was having an extremely busy week; for it was the secondary harvest. Like many of the apple farms and farmsteads of various other kinds, Braeburn grew a relatively small variety of other crops in addition to the primary produce; in this case particular instance it was the oats that needed reaping. Almost every farm in existence had at least one patch of this staple. Braeburn didn’t really care for these cereal grains, but they were easy to grow and excellent as emergency provisions, either for travel or for those long harsh winters; especially when uncontrolled storms came through from the lands beyond the pegasai’s control.

He wasn’t alone; little Apple Pie was out there in the fields with him, but she was so work focused that she didn’t converse much at all, even when he actively tried to engage her in conversations about any little thing, which was often. Her reticent demeanor and singular focus at whatever chore was at hand often only help remind the goldenrod stallion how lonely he was; not that he didn’t love his little cousin, but it would be sure nice to have some personal companionship of a more amorous nature.

As Braeburn approached the house and storage shed, pulling a wagon full of bags of raw oats and a bit ragged and dirty from the day’s harvest, his thoughts indeed did recall his less than stellar record of meeting some pony he would fancy, and fancy him back. Sure there were a few that almost came to be- Caramel Bistro, Bluebell, even Honeysuckle. Why there was even that cute, charmingly spooky unicorn he went on an adventure with! It seemed she just disappeared like the ghosts that she studied.

[colour=#daa520]Now don’t ya’ll get those lonely feelins’ in yer mind Braeburn[/colour], [colour=#daa520]there be plenty of fine single ponies out thar[/colour]. He just needed to finish storing today’s harvest, and then he could get some social time down at the ol’ Salt Lick, that always lifted his spirits!

Braeburn’s ears perked up when he heard a knock at the front door of the house. [colour=#daa520] “Now who could that be?”[/colour] He quickly unhooked himself from the wagon and trotted along the side of his home toward the front, hoping to Celestia that his currently unkempt mane wasn’t too much of a fright.

Braeburn quickly turned the corner,[colour=#daa520] “well howdy thar what can I do you… “[/colour] Braeburn stepped back ; his eyes widened in shocked surprise before a grin quickly overtook his muzzle. [colour=#daa520]“Willo Wisp? Is that, is that you? Well ahh be! It is!”[/colour]

Truth is there hasn't been a Spike episode I cared for; not that I dislike Spike, just the episodes centered on him have always felt second rate. This is no exception although I found it to be mediocre and not awful (like Mare Do Well). The biggest mark against the story is that it felt trite and cliche; must like a typical kid's cartoon story. As Whitehawke stated earlier, this episode depended on the idiot ball being passed around, which weakened it. I didn't care for Spike being so utterly useless as an assistant in anything other than what he does for Twilight; the different isn't that great.

That all being said, the episode did have moments of great humor and character: Rarity being so generous as to eat the dirt pie of Spikes; Dash's hilarious self-inset fanfic; the fact that AJ used Twilight's OCD to get her attention; all great moments.

The Timberwolves were a little off in their animation but I liked the concept that they are constructed of some kind of malevolent or at least mysterious magical force, it adds to the concept the Everfree is much more than just a forest.

2.5 out of five stars.

This is the official thread for information and chatting about the ninth episode of season 3 - "Spike At Your Service"! Another Spike episode, but it also looks to be a major Applejack episode as well; so two in a row for her. The episode airs at (9:30am Central/10:30am Eastern on December 29nd).

This thread will not be locked and thus commenting is open as soon as you see this; remember though, there are spoilers in the comments section so read at your own risk if you haven't seen the episode!

Happy New Year!

Haven't posted here in a while, so here we go:

You know she did this:

Not much to say here other that it is a very beautiful image of Celestia:

:Why yes, they are an adorable couple.

This episode was not leaked, Brian. Copy-pasting has it's faults!

But it saves so much time! Thanks though; fixed!