Bramble Rose

The stallion mook that had followed Martini Paradise up the stairs readied himself. The chandelier swung back, and just at the point where it was closest to the stallion, he ran forward and leapt into the air. Just as the chandelier started to swing away again. The stallion's eyes widened, and he made several grabs for the retreating chandelier - all too short. His legs pinwheeled in midair, and he plummeted down to crash into a table, shattering it, laying amongst the wreckage with his eyes swirling much like the eyes of the mare that Martini had landed on. Baron von Hoofington sighed and shook his head. Well, time to get involved, he supposed. It's not like it was any sort of surprise - the blasted Doctor Nut always messed up his minions - even if he was supposed to be half of Equestria away. And if you wanted something done right... As Doctor Nut bowled over the group of minions, Baron von Hoofington lowered his head and charged forward, pounding into Brazil Nut's side and knocking him over, running him back up hard against the bar, then flipping over him to land atop the bar. Bottles scattered over the place, crashing to the floor in a cacophonic shower, sending booze splashing everywhere as they shattered. "Hyu, leetle minions, hyu take ze filly an' ze shmall vun! Hy trust hyu kin do zat?" The four huge stallions grunted and scrambled towards Martini and Survey, snarling angrily. Well, the Baron wasn't worried - he'd already proven himself by beating the seventh one, the biggest one, senseless in single combat. They weren't going to turn on him. Baron von Hoofington hopped up on his rear hooves and punched his forehooves a few times, hitting the air. "Und Doktor Nut, time for hyu an' me to have a bit of fun, ya? Hyu know it alvays comes down to zis. Vat vus I expecting, ya?"

Sweetie Belle followed carefully after Scootaloo, looking worried. Why would Rarity be calling for them? They were doing a good job! Or maybe there was something else Rarity wanted them to help with, too? She followed the noises as Scootaloo started knocking on doors, listening carefully. "Oh, no, not that one!" She said quickly, as Scootaloo reached up to knock on one door. "That's the one with the wonky doorknob! Big Sis told us to stay away from that door!" She listened a little more carefully. It almost sounded like Rarity's voice was coming from that door. Oh! It must be a test! "Don't worry, Big Sis!" Sweetie Belle called back. "I remember you told us not to go in that room! We won't open that door!" She smiled proudly. That surely would pass the test! She knew how to listen to her big sister, and she wouldn't make the mistake of going into that room with the wonky doorknob again!

Doctor Whooves smiled and nodded to Lyra as she talked about how hard it was to do magic. "Magic is as magic does, m'dear," he said softly. "It's not about how much power you have, it's about how you use it. History's taught us that the slightest nudge, in the right place, can move great kingdoms. For want of a nail, and all that. The reason your talent is special is because it's versatile. You can play soft music, or shatter glass, depending on what you need. That's a wondrous thing!" He smiled as he looked up, seeing Trixie tumbling in. "And you! Trixie, that was inspired! Truly one of your better performances! You should do Improv more often!" He sighed as he looked to Malediction. "But you ... why is everything a reason to be angry? Don't you get *tired* of getting angry? No, no, I don't think you should leave now. We're stuck on just our hooves, and those things don't get tired. If they decide to chase us down in a flat-out escape, they'll run us down. I think we should stick together, certainly." Doctor Whooves shook his head. "And of course the food here is rotten. This entire abandoned city is bare stone - it's been abandoned for thousands of years. But the food back in the wooden houses? That was fresh. Did *you* take the time to grab a snack on your way out? No, they only showed up recently, and the ponies who live here only ran away recently. Though, of course, a historian *has* shown up to take care of this place. Don't worry so much. I do this sort of thing all the time." He didn't acknowledge the very disturbing possibility she'd brought up ... instead turning to Lyra to answer her question. "They're mechanical, yes. They're maintenance ponies - built to maintain the city. They're enchanted by an advanced form of a spell called a 'come-to-life" spell. It does what it sounds like - it brings things to life. The one you can find in a library these days only works for as long as you concentrate ... but this spell is self-powering, drawing off the leylines of this area to keep them going." "Wait ..." Doctor Whooves turned around. "What food?!" He looked deeper into the bare stone basement to see the rotten old remnants that Malediction was talking about. "Well... that's interesting." He headed down to look at the remnants. "A picnic basket. Why use a picnic basket here? There's no view, no soft grass or sunny sky, just an old, dank, stone basement. Who would find an old, dank, stone basement to be fascinating? Well, I would, of course, but we can safely assume I'm not normal. But this means somepony was used to coming here ... and if somepony is used to coming here, that means that when they needed to hide, they'd go somewhere familiar. Which means..." "We're not alone!"

Bramble Rose still couldn't believe he'd done it. Asked somefilly on a date after only a few minutes? Not cool. No wonder he was confused - now that another stallion was apparantly showing up. Was it a date? Just friends? Bramble didn't know. He'd never had much experience with this sort of thing. But one piece of advice from his father sounded true for his memory. "Bramble, m'colt, fillies are confusing things. Don't expect to ever understand them. But there's one thing I've found almost always holds true: You can never go wrong with flowers." Bramble couldn't fault that logic. Flowers were, after all, his special talent. The only trick was in figuring out exactly which flowers to bring. His automatic go-to flower was roses, of course - he loved roses, from their colors, their shape, their grace, to their connections with romance ... not that he really had much practice with romance, but he'd dreamed about romance plenty! But no. Roses gave a specific message, at an event like this, and he wanted to be careful. Luckily, the cafe had hired Lily to do their flower delivery, and Bramble himself had hauled the wagon to deliver the flowers, so he knew what would already be there. It would do no good to bring flowers if the arrangement that was already there was better than what he brought! The cafe had daisies - both decoration and light snack for the ponies waiting for their food. Practical and pretty, not to mention easy - the fields around Lily's home and shop were filled with daisies growing wild. It was an easy thing for Bramble to deliver a fresh shipment every other morning. So... carnations, he decided. And what to wear? Once, he'd not had to worry about that, but only because he had nothing nice to wear. Now, with his side job for Glitzen Glamour, he had a half a closet full! Most of them were too fancy, but for today... his horn glowed as he selected a fedora and a tie, letting the tie knot itself loosely round his neck, and putting the fedora on at a bit of an angle, carefully making sure they were both tidy enough that he wouldn't look formal, but instead just dashing. He nodded contentedly, and then went out to the shop to pick the flowers. Carnations, he decided. Yellow and red carnations, with little sprigs of green ferns between them. That would be lovely. He carefully arranged a vase full of them, took down a box of his favorite clover crisps, his sire's recipe, and headed on out down the road. Bramble Rose moved. Just the simple act of trotting into town seemed a trial - he had thought he was tired and sore after the race yesterday, but this morning was even worse. His legs protested every step, but after he got going, it seemed to get a little better. Working out the kinks, he supposed - and did his daily trips all over ponyville delivering flowers have an added benefit? Maybe that's why he'd done so well in the race! He pranced a little, his head held higher, as he thought that maybe he was still growing up a bit. He'd be a proper stallion yet! The buildings of the town were soon around him - the market square, the book store, the fan shop, and Sugarcube Corner. Someone in Sugarcube Corner was happy! He rather liked one of the refrains, too, and found himself singing along before he realized it. o/~ o/~ o/~ Not too hot, not too cold / Don't burn your mouth / Don't let 'em get old! o/~ o/~ o/~ He stopped quickly, embarrassed. Goodness, what if someone had heard him? That would have been dire indeed!

Doctor Whooves stared around wide-eyed as all the clockwork started popping up out of the sand. And then at the one popping out from under his beloved cart! "I will have you know that I have illegally parked all over equestria, and I've never gotten in trouble for it before! You're not proper coppers, you're maintenance cogs! You're not supposed to be ... ARGH! Why aren't you all fixing stuff?" "SPARES STORES DEPLETED. SUPPLY CENTRAL UNRESPONSIVE. ACCEPTABLE SPARE PARTS FOUND." The clockwork pony looked at Doctor Whooves where he stood next to his cart, which was rocking as the other pony struggled in the sand under it. "DETAIN. DETAIN. DETAIN." The booming voices of the clockwork ponies sounded all around them as they started fleeing the scene, all of the mechanical equines converging on the four ponies. "Not likely!" Doctor Whooves cried as he jumped into the cart and cranked a wheel, causing two long poles to pop out of the sides of the cart, and flipping forward to form the tongue. He rolled under the cart, next to the emerging clockwork horse, and kicked off the wheel with the locking mechanism. The clockwork horse grabbed at him, but Doctor Whooves kept rolling and got out of the way fast enough, coming up under the harness. "Manual control, then!" His hooves beat at the sand, kicking up trails as he peeled off, pulling his odd now-three-wheeled cart behind him, leaving behind the wagon wheel, the boot, and the herd of clockwork ponies. Instead of diving into one of the buildings, he circled around it, ducking past several mechanical monsters who were too busy flailing ineffectually at the blinding and sparking balls of light. As Malediction and Lyra made their way into the building, he looked through the massive broken hole in the wall on the far side, grinning back to them. "Well, today's an interesting day, then, isn't it? I'd offer you a ride away from these things, but someone put a hole in my gearbox, so that's going to take a while to fix! Let's go hit the ruins - at least those walls are made of stone!" As they fled, Doctor Whooves caught up with Lyra and ran alongside her a moment. "Now that sonic thing was neat. Wish I had a sonic thing I could use to ... sonic ... things. That looks really handy!" He led the way into the tall stone walls, the slick, smooth, half-tumbled ancient structures rising up around them as they galloped down the dirt streets. The group took one turn, then another, coming up on three clockwork ponies blocking the road. "DETAIN. DETAIN." "Whoop!" cried Doctor Whooves. "Not that way!" He wheeled around and headed up another street. Time and again they turned corners to find themselves facing clockwork ponies, till finally they had ducked into a building. Doctor Whooves had his cart pressed back into the room, and was hiding next to a half-crumbled wall to peek out as clockwork ponies marched past in the street, not seeming to notice them. As they turned the corner and were out of sight, he let out a sigh of relief. "Good running, everypony!" he said softly. "Well. Now we know what scared off the ponies that used to live here!"

Sweetie Belle stood around awkwardly eating with Champ as he retained a sullen silence... then stepped away with a soft sigh. "Well, I'll see you later, then!" she said merrily to him. "I hope you get better really soon!" She wanted to talk to Grim... that was an awesome show-and-tell! And it had music! She loved music *so* much... But then she saw him by ... by those two girls ... oh no. And he had such a goofy, sweet expression on his face. Did he have a crush on Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon!? Oh no! Poor Grim, he had no idea... Well, Sweetie couldn't let him venture into that alone. And who knows, maybe, just maybe, his nerdy cuteness would get past their meanness, and they would soften up and be nicer? And maybe earth ponies would fly and grow apples in Cloudsdale. But she had to support him, no matter what! She trotted back, with one last worried glance back to Champ, then came up to the other three foals. She took a deep breath. "Hello, Diamond Tiara. Hello, Silver Spoon." She tried to keep her voice warm, at least. "And hello, Grim! That was a wonderful show-and-tell, Grim! I loved the music! Your sister's really neat! And pretty!" She turned her head to look over at Diamond Tiara, who usually took the lead. "Didn't you think that was lovely? The magic light was so appropriate for the stage presence in that piece! I bet Grim here will take after his cousin a bit, and become an Equestria-famous author and get really rich selling his books!" There! Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon usually seemed impressed by money, that should help Grim have a chance with whichever of them he had a crush on!

Sweetie Belle felt so proud - her sister was trusting her to clean up all by herself! That happened, sometimes, usually when Rarity had to go find something else to do that was frustrating. She'd hear some shout come from the far corner of the building, where Rarity was dealing with whatever it was that always seemed to get her so upset while Sweetie was cleaning up. "Oh, no, it's fine," Sweetie assured Scootaloo. "She probably just had something upsetting to take care of. It happens a lot - some muffled scream while I'm cleaning up. But she always says it's nothing, I'm sure she's all right!" Sweetie looked over at the smeared floor. "After you scrub up the mud, you have to wipe it away, with the cloth! Always wipe in the same direction, too. Rarity tought me that." She trotted on out the door, to retrieve the roll from outside. She rolled it back up over the dirty, up the stairs, and back into the house. They'd have to wash it, of course, and hang it up to dry, but she'd finish rolling up all the rolls of dirtied fabric, first, so she could clean all of it at once. Maybe stacking it wasn't the best idea, though ...

Bramble Rose lay there in the grass for a long time, taking long, deep breaths till he started to finally settle down. He'd done it! He'd finished! Ooog... weren't ponies supposed to exercise because it made them feel better? he felt sore all over... he'd always thought of races as being ... running. Not all of that ... everything else that happened! Races were a lot more interesting than he'd thought they would be! Slowly, carefully, he got back up to his hooves, with a soft groan. Oooo, golly... he wanted to sleep for, like, a week. He limped his way over to the board and looked up to try to find his name. Ah, there he was, number 13 - Willow Wisp?! That wasn't his name! He puffed up his chest in indignation. How could they have gotten his name THAT wrong?! And he thought he'd done better than than 27th! Wait... there was his name up there! Under number... also 13? What a confusing thing. He though numbers were supposed to be unique - the whole point of having them. Well, whatever. 18th, not bad! Maybe if he practiced, he'd do better next year. He looked around for Ginger Mint. He had no idea how to get ahold of her, so he wanted to make sure they set a time and place for their date before they left the race grounds! He spotted her soft coloring through the gathering crowd of ponies and made his way over. "Ah ... hello!" Bramble said brightly. "Great job on the race! Wish I could have kept up with you!" He paused a moment. What did ponies say, at this point? "So, um ... I don't know if you're looking for tea now, or later... we're both kinda tired just now, I'm sure... when and where did you want to do that?" ===== ===== ===== As Carrot Fields was standing there, talking to Lyra, a flying purple blur suddenly tackled into him. Purple Haze excitedly cried, "Ah, gid job, big brae! Ferth place's nae tae sneeze at! Ye ran a gid race, ye did! Think it'll help us sell carrots? Tell me bout th' race! Did anything exciting happen? Did ye meet this filly on th' race? Did ye invite her over fer dinner, yet?" The questions spilled out of the little filly, as she excitedly bounced up and down next to her big brother.

Bramble Rose looked up into the air as Hoss flew back down the trail towards her. She dropped the vine rope from her mouth and waved her hoof. "Down here! Down here, Hoss!" She bounced eagerly as he approached with the bottle. Yay! He had the bubble bath! Though it didn't look like the normal bubble bath cure... "Oh, thank you!" she said sweetly, a big smile on her face as she looked up to Hoss hopefully. As the application hit her, she turned a bit bigger, a little less slim... but only a little. The delicate little purple unicorn colt brushed his long, silver mane back - he was still smaller than most fillies. "Oh, thank you," he said in his soft voice. "I'm so glad to be back to being my normal Stallion self again!" He puffed out his chest and tried to stand up taller, almost on hoof-tips, trying to show how different he looked when he was normal... "Oh! But I've gotta run this race!" He looked around... he'd already passed the vine to everyone who would take it... so he picked it up and *pulled* hard, trying to get the whole herd of ponies moving as one, like Ginger Mint had suggested!

Bramble Rose was galloping along beside Ginger Mint, trying to enjoy herself, but it was getting hard... and all sorts of ponies were getting stuck around them, getting caught up in the sap and sticky puddles... her own legs were splattered with tree sap, making them sticky and matted. "You know... this reminds me ... of when I ... got my cutie mark. I was covered... in tree sap ... then too!" she panted softly to the sweet filly. As Ginger Mint outlined her plan, Bramble Rose nodded... Ginger was right, of course, but how could you get everyone to push or pull? So many ponies were running on, others were all clustered in little groups, here and there. How could they get everyone moving together, when everyone was all broken apart? "You're right, of course," Bramble said firmly. "There's nothing ponies can't do if they work together! If only we had a rope, or ..." Of course! The same vines she'd just grown! "You're a genius, Ginger!" cried Bramble, and gave a kiss to her cheek. Then she lowered her head, and touched her horn to the ground... another vine started growing, longer and longer. "It's one giant game of tug of war, except we're all on the same team! Great idea!" She trotted up to one pegasus who seemed stuck in the sap. "Here!" Bramble cried, "Hold onto this!" She handed him the end of the vine rope, then trotted on down the trail, the vine getting longer and longer as she moved. She zig-zagged back and forth, explaining to each pony in turn. "Just keep hanging onto the vine!" She moved onwards. "It's Ginger Mint's idea! If you get stuck, we'll pull you out! If someone else gets stuck, you pull them out!" From cluster of pony to cluster of pony, so that all the ponies were pulling together, or pulled by the vine. Teamwork, that was the ticket! Teamwork by everypony! The cure was somewhere up there, but Bramble was too excited to pass out the vine and help in Ginger Mint's plan to worry about that just yet! Maybe she'd find them soon! Passing out the vine was slow going - but not as slow as everyone caught in the sap!

Bramble smiled happily to Ginger Mint, accepting the hoof up, blushing softly at the praise. "I couldn't agree more... and I see that you are a pony who cares about others," she said softly the sweet earth pony. She ran along with Mint as they finally got going again, but it was starting to be *very* hard for her... even with the thundering rumble of magic coursing through the area, tearing the leaves from the trees, and carrying with it the endless energy of the hardy earth ponies, her legs were burning, her lungs were burning, and her throat was parched. She just wanted to get to the finish line without giving up, that's all she wanted. She also wanted to talk with Ginger Mint, but it was a lot harder to talk as she ran. She was really running out of juice - but it was nice to come down out of the mountain pass - to feel the lush forests around her again. It lent her an energy. Not much, but enough to give her a second wind. The energy of nature gave her just a bit more of a spring to her step. She was too savvy with nature to be fooled by those sticky puddles - she circled round them carefully, with a smile to Ginger Mint. "Ah... ah... ah-heh... I'd ... love to ... have tea with you ... after the race," she panted softly. Then she thought she heard her name being called. She glanced up. "Did you hear that?" she panted out, still running as fast as she could.

Bramble Rose smiled to Hoss. "I'd realy appreciate it, thanks... this is always embarassing for me." And then Hoss was off and away, and Bramble was running on with Ginger again. He smiled, to see so many ponies helping each other in the light of this rock slide. What a terrible accident! He was proud of Ginger's efforts to help her fellow racers... and suddenly, it hit him. This wasn't a race! This was a celebration of the pony spirit! In one way, it didn't matter who won, because the important thing was that they were all bringing the leaves down together. That, he'd already figured out - it was why he had wanted to race ... because he wanted to belong to something. But in another way, it was important to TRY to win ... because part of the Pony Spirit was about being the very best you could be! And part of that was physical prowess, and the champion's spirit! But all of that desire to be great was worthless if you stepped on your fellow ponies in the process. To be a champion, you *had* to stop and help... and she smiled proudly at Ginger Mint as she got up ahead of a pony... then turned and offered a hoof, letting that pony get ahead of her so that she could help another. Bramble lowered her head, and her horn glowed with a soft verdant color. Seeds, everywhere... no one knew how many seeds were all over the place, but she could feel them. Greenery sprouted up around the base fo the boulders, coiled around piles of rocks, fastened them together with hoof-holds and supports, to keep the whole pile from shifting again, and possibly hurting somepony. Bramble was determined that she would help, too! She would show she had a true Stallion's champion spirit!

Baron von Hoofington was just about ready to explode. That was it. No more Mr. Nice Pony. He had never given in to anyone, no matter how much bigger or stronger than him they were... and he wasn't going to give into some little unicorn filly just because she had magic and he didn't! And he CERTAINLY wasn't going to give in to that hateful Brazil Nut! AND she'd knocked off his HAT! Oh, no, it was ON now! But he did not strike the first counterblow. No, one of the stallions came barrelling across the room, shoulder-checking Brazil Nut into another of the nearby tables. Two more of the minions jumped on top of him, piling him under. Vell, finally! I guess hyu ken find gut help, hafter all. Hyu just gots to find ze right zing for dem to do. A fourth of the minions was crying out in pain, trying to get a piece of the puzzle cube out of his eye, but his friend stood up and charged Survey with a snarl, angry that the little unicorn who'd dared hurt her friend! She ran pell-mell at him, ready to bowl him over! He was, after all, less than half her size! And the last of the minions was doing his job. He let go of the filly so he could spin around around and kick, the floating bottle shattering with the force of his hoof. He turned back and loomed over Martini, an evil grin on his face. "Disarmed, little filly. Now, be nice and give duh boss dat ting he wants." Baron von Hoofington blinked, and sat back, a broad smile on his face. No need to exert one's self when one had minions to do it for you! Well! Well well well! Dot's verra gut! Maybe zis iz a gut night after all! Den again, any day hyu see dot Nut get kicked in ze face hiz a gut night!

Sweetie Belle let out a squeak as Apple Bloom started laughing at her, shrinking down and tucking her head down, her face burning with embarassment. Oh, no, even her best friends laughed at her singing. She was nice enough to say it was nice, but ... ooohhh, why did she do that? She squirmed with shame. And Sunrise - she was so nice, but even she was teasing her. Up on a stage, singing in front of lots of ponies? Oh, nonono. That'd be horrible. Everyone looking at her? Just the thought made her stomach queasy. Why would Sunrise say such a thing? "Oh, I ... ah ... th-thank thee," she stammered out, trying to pretend that she didn't notice they were making fun of her singing... "tis um ... kind of thee to ... say-eth such things of my simple little twiddles."

Sweetie Belle nodded eagerly to Scootaloo's suggestion. "Yeah, let's clean it up!" She set the bucket down, and scooped out the dripping scrub brush. "How's this work? You go ahead and scrub the floor, and I'll start picking up all the dress forms and clothes that fell down!" At least this she knew she couldn't mess up - the cloth was already kinda dirty, and the dress forms, already a mess. What could possibly go wrong? She eagerly started rolling up the cloth. A little bit of scrubbing and it'd be fine, she was sure. She laid out the first roll, then the second next to it. The third roll, she perched atop the first two, to make a neat and tidy little pyramid. She turned back to the spilled fabric to roll up a fourth bit of fabric, and the little pyramid of fabric collapsed, sending one roll unravelling, tumbling across the floor and leaving a trail of fabric behind it to head over the muddy hoofprints and pop out the door into the dirt outside.

Bramble Rose galloped along beside the other two ponies, covered in mud and leaves and bits of mushroom and who knew what else... he certainly didn't, since he was still a bit dazed from the knock on his head. But he did stare in bewilderment at Ginger Mint as her words tumbled out too fast to understand more than a snippet. Something about guards hauling ponies away, and eating, and ... she wanted to make cookies? "Um... My name's not evertree, sorry, you can call me Bramble ... and that sounds awfully tasty, I am awfully hungry!" he said in his soft voice, trying to be polite. "Wouldn't mind having a bite or two, that I wouldn't! And from a nice filly like you, that'd be especially nice!" He was going to say more, but then Hoss came running past, the filly looking at Bramble and yelling about Poison Joke. What?! "ARRRRRGH!" he cried, the roar of frustration coming from him. He looked down at himself desperately at the prospect! "Not a filly!" he cried, his voice squeaking. ... "hey, what's all these leaves doin' here?" He gave himself a good shake, sending many of the multicolored leaves flying, then another. He hopped along on three legs for a moment, brushing at the caked and coating mess of forest. While running, he didn't notice as the forest was being left behind - except for the stuff still clinging desperately to him, of course. Red leaves, yellow leaves, brown leaves, blue leaves, all floated away behind him towards the ponies behind, leaving the form of a lithe and petite little purple unicorn filly, wearing the number 13 on her flank. Bramble let out a soft groan... what was she going to do *now*? She looked up to Hoss, keeping pass with the other filly. "Erg... thanks for the warning," she sighed.

Bramble Rose stumbled down the path till his head cleared ... though it was still dark. Why was it dark? Oh, light above, was he blind?! He gave his head a shake, and the mushroom caps fell off. Oh! That was all right, then... he got his bearings, saw a few ponies running down the trail, and took off after them. Oh, good, he was still in the race! Why did he feel so heavy, though? He turned his head to the side, and gave a smile, nodding to Mayday and Ginger Mint as he started to fall back into his pace. Light, but his legs and his head both hurt. "Good day," he said companionably, though his voice rasped a bit out of him. He blinked and cleared his throat. "Ah, good day. Nice day for a run!" He was completely unaware, as he ran, that he still was covered in mud and leaves, and that giant mushroom growths were stuck to either side of his head, and one perched atop his horn.

Purple Haze talked the whole way back to the farm, half of the conversation being about food ... she headed straight to the kitchen upon arriving home, starting to gather together the pots and pans she would need. "Dawn, ye'll fill these pots up wit' water, aye? An' Carrot, Oi'll be needin' ye tae head on out tae th' family patch an' get us a nice big bushelfull of carrots! While Carrot was still in earshot, she started off asking Dark Core, "So, while we get ready tae cook up those carrots me brae'll be takin' by, why dinnae ye tell me all 'bout the studies that had ye comin' back tae th' schoolhouse tae get those books? Oi'd be right interested in that, Oi would! Are ye intae any sports? Oi love hoofball! Quite a bit a fun, roit?" But as her older brother passed beyond earshot, she grinned a bit to Dark Core and gave him a wink. "Then, Dawn, 'afore he comes back, ye kin tell me why ye're bein' so mysterious an' jumpy! Oi'm a sight more curious bout that, see if Oi'm nae! Oi don't want ye scared a me!" She gave a little nuzzle to his cheek in passing. "We're friends now, aren't we?"

Bramble was haring through the forest crazily, racing at breakneck speeds, outpacing most of the other ponies easily as he tried to get away from the sudden swarm of hornets. He went over hill, through bushes, the leaves showering over him and sticking to the mud still covering his head. Down into a valley, up another hill, then he was running in mid-air, just off the edge of a cliff, as the hornets kept going, not noticing the pony they were chasing had suddenly stopped. Bramble dropped, as he realized what was going on, dropping into the mud at the base of the cliff with a great splash. He groaned, and drew himself up out of the thick mud, giving himself a little shake that totally failed to bring him back to his normal pale lavender instead of being covered in thick, dark brown muck. He wiped at his face with one forehoof, scraped at his chest, and dropped the ball of mud to the ground, with a sigh. Well, at least the hornets were gone, so he didn't have to worry about running from - *ssssssssss* Bramble froze, looked down at the mud pit, from which several long, sinuous snakes were emerging. "AAUUUUUUUUUGH!" Bramble cried, "SNAAAAAAAKES!" He raced away from the serpents, once again at top speed, racing right past a batch of racing ponies and plunging into the forest once again, the leaves falling from the leaves further coating him in oranges, reds, and yellows, sticking to the thick mud and transforming the delicate little unicorn into some sort of running pile of leaves. He hauled back, screeching to a stop, leaving furrows in the soil as he came to rest just *barely* short of a patch of blue-leaved flowers. He glanced around, quivering, and realized the snakes had never chased him... he let out a soft sigh of relief. A spider emerged from the Poison Joke patch, the plants having magically enhanced its size so that it was almost as tall as Bramble himself. Bramble's eyes grew wide as saucers, then he turned to run once more, letting out a fearsome wail. Ponies on the path would see a pile of leaves letting out a fearsome noise go rushing over the path ahead of them, not even noticing them as it plunged into the forest on the far side once again. Bramble bounced off several trees, knocking off the massive mushroom growths, which fell down, sticky with tree sap, to stick to his head... two large red and white mushroom caps falling down to cover his eyes. He bonked his head on a low-hanging branch, and staggered through the forest a bit more before emerging once more onto the path, unsteadily wobbling his way along it blindly as he let out a long, low groan of pain... nothing more than a creature of leaves, mud, and mushrooms, letting out a long, terrible moaning noise. He'd certainly outpaced every pony here... now if only he'd run even remotely *close* to the trail, instead of having zig-zagged every which way through the forest except where he was supposed to go!

Doctor Whooves looked more wild than ever, running a hoof through his spiky, slicked-back mane and staring into the engine with a wide-eyed, helpless look on his face. And everyone couldn't even be quiet while he dealt with this catastrophe, could they? NO, no, of course not, they had to keep jabbering on and on as if there were some horrible monster coming up out of the surf! What in Equestria was their problem?! He looked up and glared out at the ponies and their surroundings. Oh. There was a horrible mosnter coming up out of the surf! Well, then, that was interesting! That was new! He'd not seen that sort of beast before. He wondered if he could talk with it, find out where it came from, what it wa- And it was suddenly engulfed in green flame. He leveled an exasperated look over at Malediction. "Is that all you do!?" he exclaimed. "Set things on fire? Somepony's coming towards me! Let's set them on fire! Somepony's moving away from me! Let's set their cart on fire! Something's popped back from its swim! Let's set it on fire! When you stub your hoof, do you set your hoof on fire, too?!" While he was talking, the seaweed and barnacles were burning away from the massive hulk that had just emerged from the sea, the salt water freezing solid around it, revealing it at last for what it was - a massive earth stallion crafted of brass and glass. The ice inside its structure froze the gears both large and small that had been ticking away, bringing silence to the chittering sound that the beast had emitted. The brass was discolored from untold centuries, the glass deformed and twisted, darkened from the fires scorching its form, and it moved another half-step before freezing solid, held in its transparent chill shell. Doctor Whooves forgot about scolding Malediction, staring instead in awe at the clockwork pony, his jaw dropped. "Well, hell-O! Aren't you *gorgeous*!" he said in amazement, fumbling at the dashboard to pull out a pair of glasses, propping them up on his muzzle. "Oh, *yes*. Oh my goodness! I'd heard of these, but I didn't think any would still be around! Admittedly, there used to be hundreds of them in the city, but -" "COMMUNICATION WITH UNIT FOUR-TWO-THREE LOST" came a deep, gravelly, booming, and emotionless voice from the sand under Lyra's feet. "CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR DETECTED. CONTACTING PEACEKEEPING FORCES. PEACEKEEPING FORCES UNAVAILABLE. ENACTING EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS. SUMMONING OTHER MAINTENANCE UNITS. DE-TAIN. DE-TAIN. DE-TAIN." The damp black sand under Lyra's feet started to bulge and lift up, swelling as something started to emerge from under the beach, the sand pouring away as the mound lifted and lifted underneath the pale green unicorn. Voices started sounding from all around, the sand bulging upwards in several places along the beach, and more figures starting to rise up out of the sea. "Oh my," murmured Doctor Whooves.

Bramble was starting to really pant hard... even with that break, and the drink, he wasn't feeling too good. His initial burst of energy and exhiliration had tricked him into pushing himself too hard, and he now knew what was meant by 'pacing'. The faster and more athletic ponies started to pull ahead of him, and try as he might, he just couldn't get back into that groove he'd felt at the beginning of the race. "Oooog... my legs are gonna *hate* me," he groaned... The grey earth pony he'd helped with Applejack passed him up easily, as he tried to keep up. He pushed onwards, doggedly, taking longer strides that ate up the distance more easily, but more slowly. "You can do it," he murmured to himself. "You're a big tough stallion, right?" The apple cider just left his mouth feeling sticky, now... what he wouldn't give for just a bit of water. He crested the hill and looked down upon the river and the narrow bridge. "You just ... had to ... ask for ... water ... didn't you?" he panted to himself, making his way down the hill towards the big crowd clustered at the start of the bridge. He paused at the back of the crowd, pondering pushing his way to the front. "Hey!" he called to the stallions holding everyone up. "Just get going, you're making yourselves lose with your fighting!" They didn't hear him over the noise, of course, and he sighed, glancing down at the river... lots of ponies were crossing down that way, but he wasn't the best swimmer even at the best of times. But at least he could get a drink, while waiting for this crowd to clear up at the bridge. Oh, he was going to be *so far behind*! He ducked his head and took a long, deep draw from the cold water, then let out a refreshing sigh. He looked out over the water, at the ponies swimming their way across... if only there was another bridge! ... He lowered his head, touching his horn to the water. His legs were tired, but his mind was sharp! His horn glowed a soft green color that spread out over the river, making the water glow softly ... they had to be down there, somewhere... he could seem them hugging the edges of the river... there... and there... just feed them some of that earth magic... A big white blossom burst up out of the water, bigger than his head, and then the lilypad unfurled from it to slap the surface of the water, bigger than any lilypad had a right to be, bigger than he was, even! Perhaps those big clydesdale ponies wouldn't be able to support their weight on it ... but this little unicorn certainly could! Another lilypad burst from the water, a little beyond that, then another, and another! He let out a long breath as he let the magic fade away. That was tiring in its own way, too, but now he had his path! He jumped out onto the first lilypad, and let out a nervous noise as it sloshed under him. Eep! This wasn't as easy as he thought it'd be! He jumped from lilypad to lilypad, pausing each time to catch his balance again... eep... eep! EEP! He took the last three as quickly as he could, buty tripped on the last one, burying his face into the mud of the bank. He pulled himself out, giving his head a shake, a hoof coming up to wipe the mud out of his eyes. His ears were ringing, and he could have sworn he just heard somepony say, "Right you are, Ken!" He looked around dazedly. Well, he was all right... back to the race! He started up the hill on the far side, grinning. Take that, oversized ponies! He... wait... why were ponies running back towards him? Was he going the wrong way? He couldn't have! No, he had to be going the right way! There was one of the signs! He trotted on up the path, taking a deep breath. He could do it! He was sure of it! Oh, if only he had a way to motivate himself to go faster! He got to the top of the hill and ran right into something fluffy and and feathery and screechy and buzzy... he dropped back and let out a *yelp* as something stung him on the rump! He ducked a stray swipe of a claw, and tore off down the trail! "STOP WISHING FOR STUFF!" he yelled at himself as he desperately kept a half-step ahead of at least some of that swarm of wasps!

Bramble ran along, feeling light as a feather. He'd never been all *that* athletic, much as he'd tried, but the feeling, as he ran through the leaves falling from those ahead of him, was nothing short of euphoric. He thrilled to the feel of the energy rushing through him, and the feeling of being truly *part* of something like he never had been before. This was as wonderful as dancing in his garden, making the flowers grow! There was even music, just like he enjoyed for gardening! He felt his hooves falling in the thrum of the music, and it was so appropriate! o/~ And I would trot five hundred miles and I would trot five hundred more, o/~ he panted out, letting the energetic music set the pace of his hooves, grinning happily, grinning at the lovely Lyra as she ran along with him for a short pace. Sadly, neither of them had the breath to keep up that sort of pace and sing at the same time. He let himself run faster and faster, feeling the lure of the road under his hooves. Vaguely, he remembered something his father had said when he was younger about pacing one's self ... but he wasn't sure how to figure out what a good pace was. This *felt* good, that must mean it *was* a good pace! At least, that's how it felt till he suddenly realized that he *really* should have brought a water bottle. His throat was parched, and that sure sapped from the feeling. Still, he was amazed - he was way ahead of most of the other ponies! His chest swelled up again, and the faint ache in his legs was ignored. He was a *real* stallion after all, look how awesome he was doing! Briefly, he wished he had his notebook, because he really wanted to write down what he was discovering, but his notebook was in his bags, back sitting all alone near the starting line. Or so he thought. The falling leaves, the crisp scent of apples... what a beautiful display of nature! What... what a really great way to make him feel even hungrier and thirstier! He panted more fiercely, really wishing he'd thought to bring something to drink. Somehow. Then again, he'd meant to just do it for tradition, he hadn't expected to be doing so well! What was he going to - Ah! A drink stand! How convenient! He came to a stop, panting heavily, but grinning broadly through the panting. There was a whole crowd of ponies here, getting nice crisp apple cider - one of his *favorite* parts of autumn - and taking a brief rest. Bramble came right up to the table. "Oh, *pantpantpant* Oh, yer a lifesaver, Applejack!" he breathed, knowing the influential pony. "I thought you were racing, though!" He scrawled his mark and glanced to the side, where the grey earth pony who'd helped him back at the starting line stood with a notebook. HIS notebook! Bramble jumped in surprise. "Oh! You found my notebook! I didn't know I lost it! Thank you, thank you so much!" He took it with a shy little smile. This earth pony had been nice enough to run all this way with it? That must have been difficult! "You are *so* kind! How can I ever repay you?" He blinked at the look on Carrot Fields' face, then glanced at Applejack. Oh! Oh, shoot! This nice grey stallion was having a 'moment' with this filly! Bramble was breaking the colt code! Time for a casual, inconspicuous withdrawal! "Oh, well, you two are busy doing talking stuff together, so I'll just go on with this race that I'm doing! Don't want to interrupt!" He started to run off, then came to a stop, came back, grabbed a bottle, and looked around. He laid his notebook on the table, smiled to Applejack, and said, "I'll pick this up when I come back to pay for the drink! Thank you!" He patted Carrot Fields on the shoulder. "Helpful, nice guy, this one! Cute, too!" Bramble ran on cheerfully, then, sipping at his bottle. How nice, he was able to subtly help out the stallion who'd helped him! He'd never been a wingman before! Though he wasn't sure why it was called that... were pegasi the original wingmen? Were Pegasi especially good at that? He'd have to look that up...

Baron von Hoofington looked up in surprise as the puzzle cube smacked him across that face. That voice! That cube! That ... that ... that blasted... "BRAZIL NUT!" A snarl spread across the Baron's normally cool and collected face. How? How did he do it! How did that interfering earth pony ALWAYS know JUST the worst time to get in de way! It's like the fates DEMANDED that he would always show up at the worst time! "GET HIM!" he yelled at his minions. "GET HIM! GET ZEM BOTH!" As the minions rushed forward as a mass, he held up one hoof in front of one of the stallions. "Not hyu, ve need hyu to tek care of de unicorn wit' de treasure. Hyu zink hyu kin do dot, ya?" "Oh, yeah, boss! I can do that, sure!" said the stallion eagerly, heading back to Martini. He picked up one of the bottles that had gotten thrown from the bar, as he watched the dazed unicorn filly, popping the top off and taking a long swig. Baron von Hoofington took several long breaths to cool himself down. It was all right. He'd won before, he'd win this time. It was too important not to win. "Doktor Nut!" he said cheerfully, his cool and collected face back on. "Vell, dis iz a surprize, ya? Hyu and dot shrimp are in dis dump? I could haff sworn dot hyu were off in de mountains by de Clopton Shores! A leetle t'ing about a map hyu find in some bar? I plant dot map for hyu myself!" A faint spasm of rage crossed his face again. "Hy von' have hyu gettin' in my vay! I VILL haff de key to de Lost Royal Vault! She VILL! giff it to me!" He spun around and lifted Martini's face, his hoof under her jaw, glaring into her eyes. "VERE is it? VERE is ze key?! Giff it to me!"

Bramble Rose carefully reviewed his notes, the small, ragged notebook floating in front of him along with a quill. He looked up at the crowds, jotted down a few notes, then blew across the ink to dry it before closing the notebook and slipped it into his saddle bags. The slim, slender little purple unicorn stallion with the long, silky silver mane gave himself an eager shake and stood up, giving a few prancing steps to work out his nerves. It was very exciting. Canterlot didn't really have a strong 'Running of the Leaves' race - all the unicorns there could run for ages, but the leaves just wouldn't shake free. Bramble had asked one of the professors at the university, Doctor Four Seasons. She was an expert in the theory behind maintaining the environment, and she'd explained to Bramble that while the theory wasn't proved, her own understanding was that it wasn't really the vibrations of the hooves that shook the leaves down, it was the inherent magic in all ponies - a connection to the earth and its plants and animals that mostly resided in the blood of earth ponies. A natural magic more subtle than the unicorn's flashy spell-work. Bramble had been very interested - his own magic wasn't the sort of celestial magic that the top class of unicorns enjoyed, nor the general, delicate, pure magic that so commonly was used by the unicorns of Canterlot. Bramble's magic *was* the earthy magic that was so close to that of earth ponies, and he really looked forward to seeing if that could fit in better here. Already he could feel the gathering energies as the ponies clustered together, the subtle, deep energies of the earth seeming to tingle through the ground and up into his hooves, giving an energetic spring to his step. Was this what earth ponies felt all the time, connected to the earth under them? He bet that was the case! He started to gather his own energies, but very gently, hardly making his horn glow its soft green color at all. He was so focused on the energies, and pulling his numbers - number 13 - out of his saddlebags that he accidentally ran right into another pony. The delicate little unicorn pony stumbled and dropped his saddlebags, his notebooks scattering over the ground. "Oh! Oh, I'm sorry!" he said, his voice squeaking nervously. ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo Purple Haze walked alongside her big brother. She wasn't going to race today, but instead was going to take advantage of the race to sell her carrot snacks in the stands! She bet she'd make a beaut of a bit t'day! Everypony who was everypony in the area was here either to race or to cheer, and Purple Haze meant to make sure that they had an even better time with her wonderful, tasty treats! She'd been all day, every day, for the past couple of days, getting ready some garlic-roasted carrot fries, and her pickled carrots, and nice little bottles of carrot juice. Then, this morning, she'd preened and preened till her dark green coat shone, and her purple and orange mane was looking *almost* under control. She was so excited! But first, she needed to see her big brother off to the starting line! She had a nice, big bottle of fortified carrot smoothie for him to drink, first - it'd keep him nice and hydrated for the race, and help him to run his best! It was good enough for working in the fields all day - it must be good for running, too! But just as she was taking the cap off to give it to her big brae, suddenly a little filly went running into him, bumping him into her and almost making her spill the drink she'd prepared so carefully! She bristled, and yelled, "Oye! Watch yerself, ye dozy tat! Ye cannae jes take a dobber intae me brae an' be done withit, ye slecher!" She grumbled angrily, and offered the bottle up to her big brae again. ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo Bramble Rose stared nervously at the two ponies he'd run into. He could barely understand a *word* they were saying, but the little filly seemed awfully angry at him. He just stammered nervously, scooping the notebooks into his bags, and the older gray colt very politely helped him pick them up, seeming a lot more polite about things. He *wished* he could tell what either of them were saying! They were speaking Equestrian, to be sure, but with such a strong accent that the words just washed over him without meaning! He blushed, but softly said, "Thank you," as the stallion helped him to put the 13's on his flanks, marking him for the race, the notebooks mostly stowed. He needed to get his bags put away before the race - "GO!" Bramble jumped. He hadn't even noticed that the race was starting! Oh no! He took off, leaving his bags where they were - he was sure no one would take them. But he needed to run this race! The power surged through his legs as he felt that indefatigableness the earth ponies were known for swelling out through the massive herd, the magic tingling through him, energizing him even as he sent his own magic out to join with everyone else's, and past them, into the trees. He felt the swell of magic, thudding in his heart with the rhythm of hundreds of hooves, a thrill like nothing he'd ever felt before! No, this wasn't just how earth ponies felt ... this was like flying! ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo Purple Haze sighed, and screwed the top back onto the jar. Her brae had just gone and raced off without taking even a sip! Of course, he always got all forgetful around a pretty face. Ah well - she had carrots to sell! "Go Brae!" she yelled after her brother, though she doubted she could be heard over the thunder of hooves, then she hurried back to the stands and got her teeny little cart. "Garlic carrot fries!" she called out happily. "Pickled Carrots! Carrot Juice!"

Baron von Hoofington blinked and got back to his hooves, a flat look on his face as he brushed his forehoof across his jaw, then studied the faint bit of blood. She ... she'd struck him across the face with a stool. Really? He leaned down as he picked up the small pair of round glasses from the floor, letting a bottle fly by over his head, then stood up once more, settling them onto his muzzle. Ah, good. They weren't broken. It was terrible trying to get just the right prescription. He stepped casually to the side as one of the earth ponies stumbled backwards, wiping at the seltzer water all over his face. He sighed. If you wanted something done right, you had to do it yourself. As the scissors flew towards him, he stood unconcerned, brushing himself off. Few ponies had the nerve to truly do something like that. They were followers, not leaders like himself, who had long since learned to pay the price for what is needed. Sure enough, the scissors stopped short, and he reached over to casually to pluck the scissors from the air with his teeth, as if she'd simply been handing it to him. He closed the scissors, tucked it casually under his wing, ducked another bottle. As the bartender filly was concentrating on one of his minions, Baron von Hoofington took up the stool in his mouth, holding it by one leg, and walked up behind her to smash her across the back of the head, shattering it into wooden shards and knocking her senseless. Quiet suddenly reigned across the bar. Baron von Hoofington looked up and glared across his minions, slowly getting to their hooves and recovering from the sudden brawl. "Ha, hyu is funny guys! Now, if hyu big tough earth ponies are done getting beat op by de delicate leetle filly, hyu t'ink hyu could grab her und hold her down, ya?" The two stallions looked abashed at the Baron's scornful derision, then glared daggers at Martini, grabbed her under the forelegs and hefted the dazed unicorn up onto the table again. Baron von Hoofington retrieved the scissors from under his wing and approached. "Vell, dot *vus* a bit of fun, ya? Qvite a surprise! But is shtill no gut. I vus gon give hyu a chance to be a shmot gal, but ve haff to do zis ze fun vay." He poised the scissors at the base of her horn. "Do no feel shad, Fholen. Hyu fight verra vell. But de only vun dot hast ever shtopped me iz-"