Bramble Rose

Purple Haze hurried to her kitchen and looked around, worry finally showing on her face. What was she gonna do?! If they didn't like something mild like the carchimichamangarots, they probably wouldn't like any of the *other* dishes she'd prepped from the o'Carrot side of the family! Those all actually had kick to them! Not the nice spicy carrot-n-bean sausages, not the spicy carrot chili that was supposed to be the main course! That left what she had been intending as the desert. She nodded firmly, and decided one had to make do with what one had! But she knew that the sausges were some of Carrot's favorites, so she cut each sausage into thirds, dumped them into a bowl, then she went to the icechest and pulled out a wonderful golden carrot pie. So sweet, so tasty, full of brown sugar and honey and carrots and mmmmmmmm... soft and gooey, but just firm enough to stick together... her mouth watered, and she had to keep from drooling or just dropping her face into the pie to start eating it right there. She poured a little heavy cream into a bowl and took a whisp to quickly whip it up into some whipped cream, then put everything on a platter and carried it back out. The little bowl of sausages went between her and Carrot's place. [colour=#ff8c00]"These are delicious carrot-and-bean sausages! But, um ... you might want to be careful with them, they're not like the chimichamarrots - they've got a good kick to them!"[/colour] Then she carefully put the pie out in the center of the table, and the bowl of whipped cream next to it. [colour=#ff8c00]"But this! Is Golden Carrot Pie ... and I'm *sure* you'll *love* this!"[/colour] She grinned eagerly, starting to cut the pie and hand out a generous slice to each of the ponies there. :9​

[colour=#0000cd]Rainbow Dash[/colour] Rainbow Dash nodded to Rarity, starting out of the kitchen, just as a towel came flying in through the door to smack her in the face. She blinked and pulled it off, looking at it in bewilderment, then shrugged at her good fortune and trotted back to Rarity, offering it up. [colour=#0000cd]"Here ya go!"[/colour] she said merrily, wrapping the towel around Rarity's shoulders like a shawl, then flew off into the main room. She stared around at the absolute chaos, blinking in surprise ... nothing was where it had been last she'd looked! Everything was chaos! Looked like the party was going *really* awesomely! She grabbed up the barrel from out in there, having gathered rather that they didn't want it out in the main room anymore, and carried it into the kitchen to plonk down on the counter and draw a mug for Rarity, putting it down near to her. [colour=#0000cd]"There ya go, Rare! That'll fix ya up good as new!"[/colour] As Applejack and Pinkie Pie came in to start clattering and messing up the kitchen, Rainbow Dash edged a bit away. [colour=#0000cd]"Ah-heh... oh, hey, you guys look like you're gonna be busy. I should probably go find someplace where I won't get in your way! Not much I can do around here, right?[/colour]"​ [colour=#800080]Sweetie Belle[/colour] Sweetie Belle stood, confused, in the center of that chaos, as everything just kept moving on around her. There had been a stuttering attempt at singing, but that had been lost in the din as everyone went every which way. This was too much for the little filly! And now Apple Bloom was being led away from her own party, and everything was *so* confusing! Well, at least she knew where her own place was - it was with her friend! She hurried along after Miss Cheerilee and Apple Bloom and Guiding Light, hoping that somepony might tell her how to help! [colour=#800080]"Don't you worry, Apple Bloom! I'm here with you!"[/colour] She gave a hug round Apple Bloom's shoulders, looking close into her face with a worried expression. [colour=#800080] "I'll always be here for you!"[/colour]​ [colour=#ff8c00]Purple Haze[/colour] Purple Haze stared in absolute horror at the wreck of the snack area where she'd just finished arranging the last of her own load of snacks... she, herself, was now covered in food, her best and only party-clothes ruined, and her gift of food, the only gift she really had to give, was completely destroyed. Her stomach felt all hollow and empty, and not in the good 'I'm hungry we can eat soon' way. No, it felt like a hollowness that was stealing away all her hunger and replacing it with a sick feeling! And then ... and then ... and then that mean, mean pink pony who'd done it had *LAUGHED* about it! She'd laughed about ruining Purple's precious gift of food! All that work! All that effort! Ruined! And then that pink meanie'd laughed at her! Like it was nothing! Little tears leaked out of the sides of Purple's eyes, and she gritted her teeth as she grabbed up some of the ruined food and threw it at Pinkie Pie's retreating back as she headed into the kitchen. [colour=#ff8c00]"Ye big meanie!"[/colour] she cried,[colour=#ff8c00] "This innae funny! Ye're ruining th' party!"[/colour] She turned around to flee the scene... how could she show up at a birthday party with no gift? But then she saw it ... her big brae had saved the cake! She hurried over and gave him a grateful hug, and stifled a big sniffle into his chest. [colour=#ff8c00] "Thankee, big brae!"[/colour] she said, her voice choked[colour=#800080], [/colour][colour=#ff8c00]"Ye're th' best!" [/colour] She hurried up to setting up a barricaded new set of hay bales and sheet in the corner of the barn.[colour=#ff8c00] "Jes ye keep that cake safe, Big Brae! Oi'll nae let them ruin *this* one!"[/colour] she said, as she concentrated on setting up protective fortifications around her brother, and his precious cargo.​

Sweetie Belle smiled happily as she kept reading from the book, continuing from where she'd left off, mostly oblivious to what was going on. [colour=#800080]"When you receive a commission from a craftspony, always first list the fine points of the commission, making certain to praise that which is praiseworthy, before making any requests for changes. To do otherwise would be to disrespect the care and time the craftspony has put into it."[/colour] Sweetie wondered where the parts on dresses were... after all, that would be the important part for being a fashionista! So she stopped reading the part on hiring ponies and started flipping through the book a bit more, looking for clothing tips. [colour=#800080]"Let's see... Do not carry a chip on your shoulder, for it shall detract from your appearance of gentile spirit.... no ... Ah! Fashion tips! No, these just say to be fashionable... but not what fashionable is ... how to drink tea? Wow, there's a lot of rules in here..."[/colour]​

Doctor Whooves coughed and waved his hoof in front of his face, his eyes watering a little bit. Used to smoke in his cart, he quickly pulled out a cloth and held it over his muzzle, waiting for everything to clear - which happened rather swiftly, thank goodness. He let out a soft groan as Pathfinder, in her quite roundabout way, confirmed that they'd come in through the wall, completely bypassing the Doctors' carefully planned and laid out traps. But when she revealed that he'd let on more than he'd intended about the Staff of Fate, he froze up a bit and gave a hesitant little grin. [colour=#8b4513]"Ummmm... nooooothing! Nothing at all! Staff of what-now?"[/colour] he tried to say, wincing at the louder tones from Pathfinder. He sighed. No, the way Trixie had been completely failing to pick up on his hints, she'd probably follow that up with a 'You said something about a Staff of Fate, you foolish earth-foal!" and then he'd have to explain anyway. [colour=#8b4513]"Oh, fine. About, ohhh..."[/colour] He tapped his hoof against the floor of the cart a couple times as he put together timelines in his head. [colour=#8b4513]"Two hundred? A little over two hundred years ago, we searched across the land for all the deepest pits and darkest holes, where ponies would be unlikely to seek for ancient treasures... and for three years we worked at putting together traps and deterents and distractions, so that anyone who found their way in would be discouraged from going further ... or think that they'd found the hidden treasure, when really it was just a decoy. I mean, if you found a secret room, and in that secret room was a bunch of chests full of gold and jewels ... who'd look for a tiny secret loose stone in the back corner of that room, that happened to hide a little unremarkable sphere, right? Or who'd break a priceless, ancient statue in order to find out there was something inside? That way, we could stop the incessent *bickering* between all those treasure hunters as they kept trying to be the first to assemble the staff! So we simply set about collecting all the pieces ourselves - child's play, really - and tucked them away where they'd not be found for centuries!" [/colour]He paused a moment. [colour=#8b4513]"Well, I guess it's been centuries, now. *sigh* And the search is starting up again.[/colour]​

Sweetie Belle blushed a little bit, and rolled over onto her hooves, walking, then trotting, on the wheel with Apple Bloom, speeding things up nicely. It worked a lot better! [colour=#800080]"Neat!"[/colour] she said happily,[colour=#800080] "This is kinda fun!" [/colour] She giggled happily, and then the wheel was going even *faster* yet, as Reno hopped up beside them and started galloping full-tilt. She put her head down, grinning happily as they had a race in-place to see who could keep up! [colour=#800080] "This is really fun!" [/colour]she chirped happily, and instead of continuing her running, she just started *poinging* along, all four hooves hitting and pushing off, a gleeful expression on her face as she just kept bouncing in place to keep up with all the others!​

Dash settled in to eat happily, feeling ever-so-content. Spike and Twilight both thought her idea was awesome! Which it was, of course. But it was awesome to know that THEY thought it was awesome, too! And if Twilight liked a gift idea that wasn't a book, it had to be extra-awesome! Applejack didn't sound quite so convinced, but Dash took what she could get. Not *all* ponies could recognize pure awesomeness when they saw it! She tossed a apple-cinnamon donut hole into the air and snagged it on the way back down with her teeth, munching. Then she did it with two at once, making two quick bites to snag them out of the air. She spread the cream cheese over the slice of bread and ate it down in three quick bites, then washed it down with a long gulp of the apple juice. She followed that up with tossing the remaining three donut holes up into the air, then snagging one, two, three! of them out, though the last one was just barely caught between her teeth! She chewed, swallowed, smacked her lips, let out a satisfied *ahhhhh*, and then started dipping apple slices into the caramel, crunching on those a little bit slower than the rest. [colour=#0000ff] "Mmmmm... awesome as always, AJ! So I'll grab the rainbow tiedye on my next trip to Cloudsdale... or I'll just pop over in a jiff to grab it, soon. But if you guys don't need my sheer brilliance for anything else, I kinda promised Rarity I'd help her, so ..."[/colour] She let it hang, waiting to see what requests might pop out of the air.​

Rainbow Dash growled in anger at Madden's thoughtless words, stomping her hooves in place as Carrot Fields applied the last of the fur dye. [colour=#808080] "Oooo, that ... that ... "[/colour] she snarled, [colour=#808080]"I'll broom closet him! This is a green room!"[/colour] She grabbed up her Daring Do shirt and punched her hooves through the sleeves, yanking it on over her wings, which popped out one at a time with great energy. [colour=#808080] "Like he's danced with Soarin' at parties. Know the Wonderbolts indeed. Hoofpaints indeed! Says the stallion wearing makeup!"[/colour] She picked up her Daring Do hat and jammed it on her head, then lifted up into the air and rushed out of the green room door, out after Madden, to seek him out and give him a piece of her mind! And maybe a piece of her hoof, too!​ Silver Flash strode through the halls of the convention, smiling happily. So many wonderful costumes, so many excited ponies of every age! She was delighted to be part of such a magical fandom, full of so many creative ponies who put so much energy and enthusiasm into their work. She just needed to stop backstage for a bit to check in with the coordinators, and then she'd have a good fifteen minutes to enjoy the crowds before she needed to be at the 'Daring Doo and the Search for an Actress' panel. She turned her head to watch as she passed by that Daring Do and Princess Veil couple, smiling at their extravegant costumes. So as she blindly reached for the door, she didn't even notice as it was opening up ... not till somepony crashed headlong into her, tumbling her into Pathfinder and knocking all three of them to the floor.​ Dash shook her head dizzily as she peered around in confusion. Had she just run into a mirror? But she'd thought it was a door! She peered around and saw two other Daring Do costumers laying there in a heap on the ground with her ... then looked up and saw Princess Veil standing over them. The confusion and the blow to her head ... as well as seeing other such AWESOME costumes ... completely drove the anger out of her mind, though she was still rather keyed up. So she leaped up to her hooves, pointed at Princess Veil, and cried out, [colour=#808080]"You've used your Veil Kingdom Magics to create duplicates of me! What scheming scheme are you plotting now?! What could you possibly think of doing with three of me!?"[/colour]​

Sweetie Belle let out a soft "Oh!" She'd thought that it was behind the curtain in front! And here she was all settled down comfortably and everything! Rather than disrupt her new, precious book, and possibly lose her place, she instead just lifted up her plot and pushed herself along with her lil' hind legs, her crossed forelegs and chin still resting comfortably on the pillow as she scooted quickly across the floor and through the door in back. Once into the back room, she looped around in a graceful circle so that she was set up comfortably in the corner of the room, and dropped her rear back down onto the floor, all set up to keep reading and watch everything happening! ​

Doctor Whooves couldn't help but let out a burst of laughter at that comment. [colour=#8b4513] "Relaxing?! Hahaha, noooo, no, it won't be boring."[/colour] He rubbed lightly at his cheek, and gave a soft chuckle. [colour=#8b4513] "And, don't worry about it. I get slapped a lot. Comes with the territory. But I don't believe in endings,"[/colour] he said philisophically. He pondered a moment. So, she wanted to come with, then? He hoped both the unicorns weren't falling in love with him ... that was even messier than one mare falling in love! Still... it'd been a while since his cart had been loaded with that many companions, and he *did* enjoy having her around. She was easy to work with, and that sonic magic was exceptionally useful. [colour=#8b4513]"Well, why not?"[/colour] he chirped up merrily. [colour=#8b4513]"It's the Lost Library of the Royals, missing for over a thousand years. Generations of my predecessors have searched for it, across the centuries. Off and on, anyway. I, myself, have been seeking it for five years! I expect I've got a really solid lead this time, though - probably be there in a few months, given the normal delays in travel time from monsters, madponies, catastrophes, magical oddities, rifts in space and time, and other minor things."[/colour] He chuckled softly. [colour=#8b4513]"Hopefully not as delayed as that time I went shopping for a gallon of milk and didn't get back home for four months cause I ran into a Wisp on my way back from the shops ... Hooooo, that was a mess. The milk was curdled by that time, and I'd been in the middle of making my own special recipe of bread-cake ... the yeast had very nearly gained sentience and was starting to learn speech. Luckily I'd just left the Convocation of Beasts and still had a business card left to give to it. Distracted it long enough to clap some pans together... the whole mass fell flatter than anything. Scooped it up into a barrel and tossed it into the nearest volcano, boy did that smell good! Then I picked up a new gallon of milk on the way home."[/colour] He paused a moment, remembering that shopping trip with a fond little smile. [colour=#8b4513]"But I really doubt this trip will be quite *that* much fun,"[/colour] he assured Lyra. [colour=#8b4513]"Did you need to ... um ... what do normal ponies do? Tell your ... uh ... job? That you quit?"[/colour]​

Sorry about it taking a bit - I had a convention and then, of course, Thanksgiving, to take care of. "When she made her first painting, she gained her cutie mark which was a butterfly outlined in white, however she never really got excited over it, since she used to always practice using crayons and Yuki's pens. She thought about why she gained her cutie mark, and realized that the reason her art is so good is because she puts all she has into it, almost being a part of her. Her art represents her, so does her cutie mark." The cutie mark story still needs something telling us *what* her art means to her... "Putting all you have into it" and "it represents her" are good phrases, but that explains *every* cutie mark. Rarity puts all she has into her fashion. Twilight puts all she has into her studies. Dash puts all she has into winning. AJ puts all she has into her family and farm. The question is in what makes art different from anything else, for her.

[colour=#800080]"RARity!"[/colour] Sweetie Belle squeaked, her voice cracking in her excitement! [colour=#800080]"Are you OK?"[/colour] She hugged into her big sister desperately, and kept on, [colour=#800080]"Do you need a Hospital? A pillow? A drink of water? A brush for your mane?"[/colour] Sweetie Belle knew her sister, and knew that the last offer was just as vital to her as the offer of a hospital...​

Sweetie Belle's eyes widened as she stared at the small book, a gift from her very own prince! Little hearts floated above her head as she took the book with her forehooves and hugged it to her chest, her eyes squeezing shut for a moment. her irises were little hearts when she looked back up to Prince Blueblood. [colour=#800080]"Thank you, your Highness! Thank you so much! I'll treasure this always! I promise!"[/colour] She couldn't help but keep her flanks from giving an excited little wriggle, so eager was she to race off and start reading it right now, but she kept her place and simply, carefully, took the spine of the book in her mouth and turned her head to place it gently on her back, oh-so-carefully. She turned back to Prince Blueblood and bent a knee slightly. [colour=#800080] "Your Highness is too kind,"[/colour] she said, along with the tiny curtsey. As Rarity and Prince Blueblood stepped away to view the beautiful garments Rarity had made for him, she followed after, her hooves floating a couple inches from the ground. She snagged a throw pillow from nearby and set it up on the ground, then forced herself back to the ground so she could prop up the book on the pillow, and sit down on the floor behind it to read. Dressage and Etiquette? Prince Blueblood read books about dresses when he was a colt? Well, that ... explained a lot. Maybe princely colts did that. She opened up the book to a random page and started to read aloud. [colour=#800080]"A craftspony's wares are a gift from them to the world, and gifts must always be well-received, for a gift is more than the material thing, it is also the thought and care that went into it."[/colour]​

A series of strangled noises came from Doctor Whooves, matching a series of aborted gestures of his hooves, as he tried to work through Pathfinder's declarations. [colour=#8b4513]"No traps?! But the water slides... the maze ... the sand room! You should have- there were the - not like we wanted to *kill* anypony ... "[/colour] Then he sighed and dropped his face into his hoof. [colour=#8b4513]"You found a way right into the central chamber through a cave-in from the tunnel system, didn't you?"[/colour] Figured. The other hidey-holes were probably deteriorating by now, too ... maybe he *should* go grab some of them and drop them down deeper, darker pits ... like that Medusa nest at that dig site of Rockefilly's... [colour=#8b4513]"Ugh. Now I have to go track down those thieves. Please tell me you don't have any of the *rest* of the pieces of the Staff of Fate..."[/colour] he groaned softly.​

Across the peaceful, majestic mountains bordering Itaily, the landscape was a gorgeous picture of grace and beauty. Nature was carefully cultivated to be lush and wild here, by the few ponies dotted along its expanse for the purposes of keeping it upkept, but here there were no major cities, and only the occassional tiny village. A perfect, out of the way place to hide anything. Or so Doctor Whooves thought morosely, the VWORP VWORP VWORP of his automatic cart echoing out over the mountains and bouncing back towards him, leaving a thin trail of blue smoke spiraling up from the wheezing and gasping engine propelling the wooden contraption. [colour=#8b4513]"Nuts and Apples,"[/colour] he muttered to himself, [colour=#8b4513]"Every two hundred years it's the same thing. They find one piece, and we gotta go dig them all up and hide them in brand new places. Can't leave well enough alone."[/colour] He cranked at a dial, threw a lever up and down a few times, and smacked a button - usually enough to make him smile, but now it was just a little resigned. And he didn't even get to have his new companion with him - Trixie was off with that insane fangirl, Pathfinder, keeping an eye on her. It just wasn't going to be the same doing awesome stuff without her there to nudge and go, "Wasn't that awesome?" He pulled the cart up alongside some small little cottage and sent it into idle, the VWORP VWORP VWORP trailing off to a distant vworp vworp vworp as the echoes carried the noise just a little further, though the blue smoke continued to puff out in little poofs. He pulled out a nice, trim book bound in blue leather, not at all neat and tidy as it had little bits of parchment pasted into it almost haphazardly. He pulled out a pair of glasses, settled them on his nose, and opened up the book to the right page - a sketched portrait of the area, showing the mountains rising up before him, as well as a little sketch of some stone monastic building on the edge of a cliff, and a lot of scribbled notes all over the place. He looked up at the mountains above him, then brought up the book before his eyes, the drawn mountains matching the shape of the real mountains perfectly. A little circle marked one point high up on the mountains. Doctor Whooves nodded in satisfaction. ​

Purple Haze After a long time staring in horror at the food, Purple's eyes narrowed determinedly. [colour=#ff8c00]"Comon, Big Brae!"[/colour] she said firmly, and marched forward. [colour=#ff8c00]"Time tae set this tae rights!"[/colour] She walked across the room, avoiding tumbling foals, to where all the tumbled hay bales were piled up all over. She turned around, the food still balancing on her back, and gave several decisive kicks to those hay bales, sending them scudding across the room. A few more kicks brought them together into one long, low rectangle. She looked around the room, then nodded. She crouched down and bounced, sending all the carrot-tastic treats flying up into the air, reached out with her teeth and grabbed the tumbled mess of the tablecloth from the ruined and destroyed snack table, and sent it flicking through the air, upside down, to settle over the hay bales. It was a bit patchy and discolored, but better than dusty hay. The bowls and plates and platters all fell down with a series of thumps onto the soft hay, pinning down the tablecloth, and Purple spent a few moments nudging them and putting them in place. She nodded in satisfaction and hurried back out to the wagon for more treats!​ Rainbow Dash Dash jumped in surprise as the atomized cider went spraying across the kitchen, and stared, dumbstruck, at Rarity. She carefully put down her own mug of cider and lifted her hoof to touch at Rarity's forehead, then cheeks. [colour=#0000cd]"Are you all right?"[/colour] she asked, concerned. [colour=#0000cd] "Everypony's acting so strangely today! Are you drunk? I mean, this seems like awesome hard cider, I can't even taste the alcohol, but I don't know what your tolerance levels are ... "[/colour] The pegasus pondered for a moment. What would Fluttershy do? Tuck her in and feed her soup! [colour=#0000cd]"Do you need to lay down for a bit? I can get you something warm ..."[/colour]​ Sweetie Belle Sweetie Belle stared around in utter confusion as Apple Bloom seemed to develop the short-term memory of a goldfish, foals stumbled around goofily, adults screamed, AJ acted crazy, Apple Bloom got sick, small, strangled screams happened, and all in the span of minutes. Her eyes were wide and confused, and a faint, confused noise came from her as she just gaped, holding the mug of spoiled cider and staring around. What ... what had just happened? She just stood there, a tiny spot of silence in the middle of the disaster that Apple Bloom's party was turning into. She took a deep breath, nervousness rising in her. She was Apple Bloom's friend! It was up to her to make the party fun for her friend! This was Apple Bloom's birthday, after all! How horrible if it was a catastrophe?! This called for drastic measures! This called for something amazing! Something daring! Something that required immense courage! She took a deep breath, and tried to start singing, all by herself, her voice a little wavery and scared. [colour=#800080]o/` Happy Birthday ... to you! Happy Birthday ... to you! o/`[/colour]​

I'm afraid that the secondary review by other staff members have had them coming back to me to request a few clarifications. Nothing really wrong with the story that we've finally developed, but instead, just a request to clarify and expand upon it a little bit. 1. They feel that the application focused too much on Shade and Yuki. That it shows more about how Duskus interacts with them than it really shows who Duskus is as an individual. Once again, I'd request you to place your links to their character applications, but this time into the app itself so that they can see the characters are your other characters. Keep the current story, but flesh it out a bit. A few questions you could expound upon: What age did her parents give her up for adoption? What was it like, growing up there, before she was allowed to head out whenever she wanted? What sort of things did she like ... or dislike ... about the orphanage? Were they kind to her? Were they overworked? What kind of smaller things does she like or dislike? Favorite foods? Music? Now that she has been adopted by Shade and Yuki, what is her life like? What does she like about it, other than just Shade and Yuki? What's her favorite place to sit and paint? What's school like, for her? What does she do after school, if she can? How does she get along with other foals? You don't have to answer all of these questions, but just a few ideas to give you someplace to start. 2. The cutie mark story needs more detail. A cutie mark story is not about what skills you have, but rather, about *why* you find using those skills to be important. To quote the show: Scootaloo: "AUGH! These namby-pamby stories aren't getting us any closer to finding our cutie mark! They're all about 'finding out who you really are' and BORING stuff like that!" Rarity: "Yes, Scootaloo, that's it exactly." You say she got her cutie mark after her first serious piece of art. What art did she do *up* to that? She must have played with crayons. Include some of that. What made this piece special to her? It obviously wasn't her first piece ever. What made it stand out, what did it make her realize about what artwork meant to her, that she'd never seen in herself before? What does her cutie mark actually *mean* to her? 3. "sort of like Fluttershy" Please remove this from your application. Find a way to describe her personality that doesn't reference somepony else, but stands on itself.

Sweetie Belle looked over the grand layout, impressed. How did those two older mares *run* all of this? They must work really hard! Well, part of her wanted to go sort apples - she knew that's what Rarity had done, but ... that looked kinda boring. But that giant hamster wheel! [colour=#800080]"Comon, Apple Bloom!"[/colour] she said eagerly, [colour=#800080]"Let's see how fast we can get that big wheel spinning!"[/colour] grabbed at Apple Bloom and tugged at her, grinning broadly, over to the wheel, where she hopped in and started to run! The little filly took right off running, intending to make a good start. She ran right up the side of the wheel, her little white hooves scrabbling, and then gravity took over. She fell back down, and slid upside-down, on her shoulders, back to the bottom of the wheel. The wheel creaked just a little bit. [colour=#800080]"Huh ..."[/colour]​

Purple Haze's eyes widened at the reactions of her guests to their bites of the carrotchamangachimis, especially wincing as Apple Bloom went for the juice. That wouldn't do anything - that'd just make it *worse*! She quickly pushed the basket of bread across the table with a concerned look, [colour=#8b4513]"Ach, nae, ye dinnae want water! Ye'd jes make it burn all th' more! Here, kip on a slice of bread, aye?"[/colour] She looked down to the platter of blazingcarrmangas, biting at her lower lip. Had she messed up the spices? She took one onto her own plate and took a little nibble, then a larger bite, and licked her lips. Nope, just a pleasant little tingle that cleared the sinuses. Her relations out at the O'Carrot Corral would laugh to see someone consider this mild little concoction spicy! [colour=#8b4513]"Maybe Oi should get th' next dish?"[/colour] she asked, a bit nervously, a bit flustered that the dish hadn't turned out as she'd hoped!​

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened when she heard Cloud Chaser and Windrunner talking about Soarin' and her that way. She hurriedly turned in her seat and waved her hooves in front of her, letting out an awkward laugh. [colour=#0000cd]"hahaha! ha-ha! No, no, it's not like that!"[/colour] She couldn't let Soarin' think she was spreading rumors about him! [colour=#0000cd]"We're just ... friends! Kinda! I mean, we danced a couple times, is all. And hung out at the Gala together. Nothing special!"[/colour] She turned back to Soarin', her cheeks flaming. [colour=#0000cd]"Ah-heh. Not like you couldn't date real easy if you wanted to,"[/colour] she tried to reassure him. [colour=#0000cd]"I mean, you're a Wonderbolt! And you're nice, kinda a goob, but nice ... and you dance real good! And you look *great* in your REA uniform!"[/colour] She let out a soft *heh* and tamped down the desire to keep fangirling over him. [colour=#0000cd]"ANYway! Yeah, lightning! Um ... Well, heh-heh, I'm sure you'd get the hang of it really fast if you did more weather work! It's all about how it makes the fur stand up on your back. Then *fwoosh*!"[/colour] Dash made a little wiggling gesture where she sat, as if making a sharp bank. [colour=#0000cd]"It really gives you a jolt! Better than coffee!"[/colour] ​

Sweetie Belle shook her head a bit, freeing herself of the dizzy spell from running into the door frame, just in time to see Valen going. [colour=#800080] "Bye, Valen!"[/colour] she called sweetly, grinning broadly. Oh, this was going to be so exciting and so romantic! [colour=#800080] "I didn't see anyone at the door, Rari-"[/colour] She stopped her comment, though, as Prince Blueblood entered, and the little filly's breath caught. He was *so handsome!* [colour=#800080]"Oh! Nevermind!"[/colour] She paused to take a deep breath, and briefly worked to remind herself of all the things he'd said to her yesterday. Slowly. Slowly is elegantly. She let herself move quite slowly to come up to the royal prince, perhaps too slowly, the little filly almost moving in slow motion as she approached with her head high, quivering with excitement. [colour=#800080]"Well, good morning, your majesty," [/colour]she said calmly. [colour=#800080]"Fashionably early, I see."[/colour] She paused, then said more conversationally, puzzling over it out loud. [colour=#800080]"Can you be fashionably early? I mean, I know you can be fashionably late ... I guess you can really do *anything* fashionably, especially when you're a prince!"[/colour] She smiled brightly up to him. [colour=#800080]"Did you want any tea or cider today, your majesty? Or anything else that I can get for you?"[/colour] ​

Dash let out a squeek and jumped up into the air, floating there, her mane standing straight out. Wait, a squeek? A SQUEEK? She sounded like Fluttershy! Embarassment and anger flashed through her, and she quick reared up, and with a noise *much* more like a battle cry, she zipped back down to the ground. Her hooves skillfully lashed out to protect her friends! Side-kick! Rear-kick! Forehoof-chop! The three worms she'd kicked let out a pained hissing noise, and then retreated into the ground, which went mercifully still. Dash puffed out her chest and landed lightly, her head high. [colour=#0000cd] "Awwwwww, yeah! That's the ticket! You see that? *HIYA!*" [/colour] Her forehooves kicked at the air as she danced back and forth on her hind hooves. [colour=#0000cd]"Take that, you creepy worm-snake-grabby-things! You didn't know you were coming after RAINBOW DASH and friends!"[/colour] As she gloated, the ground behind her swelled, and bulged, and a massive purple and yellow worm emerged, rising up five feet... eight feet... ten feet ... towering over Rainbow Dash, who continued bragging all unawares. The worm had no eyes, and the small snakey tongues waved from its massive maws, big enough to swallow a pony whole. Its hide was studded with fine, glistening gems, which waved in the air like little feelers, then all oriented towards Rainbow Dash. As the shadow fell over her, Rainbow Dash stopped bouncing around and went still. [colour=#0000cd]"There's something scary behind me, isn't there?"[/colour] she asked in a resigned, almost conversational tone. ​

I think we have a winner! I'd just suggest you change it out of wanting to be in her father's 'arms' to 'embrace', but that's just a fiddly little detail. I'll submit it.

Doctor Whooves grinned eagerly, at Trixie's objections. Oh, he loved this part. He paused a few moments more, as he reached over to the proper lever, to savor the anticipation of her reaction when she saw *this* trick ... [colour=#800000]"Well-"[/colour] he started to say. The world spun, and stars danced in front of his eyes. He blinked rapidly and gave his head a shake, clearing them out of his vision, only to find them replaced by Lyra's angry face. [colour=#800000]"What?"[/colour] He asked, perplexed. [colour=#800000]"What?"[/colour] He backed up a step, rubbing at his jaw, pushing it first one way, then the other. [colour=#800000]"Oof... good hoof on ya there. Lyra, you just suddenly up and started leaving! I thought you were sensibly avoiding good-byes! Dreadful things, good-byes. Hate them. That family's got hours of a head start on you, and running away as fast as they can! Even if you knew where they were ... and I'd suggest starting to look at the first hospital you find ... it'd take you days to catch up with them!"[/colour] He looked completely perplexed, and his voice dropped its indignant tone to a little hurt mutter, [colour=#800000]"Why would I wait days and days to say good-bye when I hate saying good-bye?"[/colour] ​

Purple Haze was happy to see her friend Peebee getting advice from the Wonderbolts - that filly needed to be proud to be a pegasus! But that meant she was taken care of, and her friend Apple Bloom needed more help! She hurried over to the other side of Apple Bloom, and helped keep her upright, still carefully clutching her precious little picture that she had drawn of the Wonderbolts. Her own eyes turned up towards Spitfire and Soarin'. [colour=#800080]"If'n ye'd be good tae,"[/colour] she said politely,[colour=#800080] "Oi'd muchly 'preciate ye signin' this for me big brae, Carrot. As Oi said earlier, he's a roit huge fan - th' hugest!"[/colour]​