Appleloosa Night Riding? [ENDED]

[WillowWisp]

Wisp honestly felt rather defeated. She didn't even seem to bat an eye when Dio drug her away from the flying possessed cacti. Nor did she really see what Bluebelle did to lure them away. She just knew she had screwed up and now her leg was a mess because of it. She let out a heavy sigh as she rested on Braeburn's back while they made their get away.

'Amazing? Amazingly foolish...' she replied to his praise. Though there was a hint of a blush on her cheeks all the same. A mix of embarrassment and feeling rather stupid. 'I've never known Spirit Fire to gain abilities from objects they possess.'

Even injured a part of her was saddened they were running away. She was right in the middle of some unusual occult activity, the kind of thing she dreamed of seeing. It was full of potential for studying and noting for her guidebook. But they were racing away from it. She sighed again as she glanced back to see the fading hues of the haunted cacti behind them. Who knew if she'd ever see such again. And for that matter, who knew if she'd even be able to walk again. From what she could tell her back right leg was pretty much useless now thanks to those moister sucking needles. At that point she didn't even seem to notice the pain, it was pretty much numb.

'All of this would have been great for my research,' Willow commented as she looked forward again, resting her head gently against the stallion helping her make a get away. 'If what happened to that train is really what I think might have... Appleloosa better hope those things never make it into town.'

[MudBug]

Waiting patiently by Willow till she was picked up, she let out the faintest sigh of relief as the gentleponies came to help the poor filly up, she didn't like the look of the unicorn's leg one bit. It looked so hurt and soon they were all set off for the cart, or well, she was more pushed towards it by Braeburn to which her legs decided to move for her.

Hurrying herself towards the cart-...it was a cart right? She managed to shuffle herself inside and blink at how spacious it actually was. But oh such a noisy contraption!

All those odd sounds and such hurt the mule's ears, making them flatten slightly against her head as she briefly looked to the 'Doctor'. He was so eager for them to get away, she could understand, but really, you'd think he'd have a little more patience in a cris-

The sight of the cacti in the distance made the molly's eyes blink worriedly. Oh dear.

"Goodness! Hurreh! Get miss Wisp in th' wagon!"

Watching the cacti from where she sat, she watched the others worriedly before she felt the wagon edging ever so slightly. Was it moving? Only slightly but it was still moving! She blinked at the Doctor before her eyes snapped back to the other, hoping for them to hurry.

[Dio]

Diomedes

'Flesh wounds, chief— nothing a little time and antibiotic won't fix,' he said to Braeburn, his breath forming little clouds of condensation in the chill air. 'But I won't say no to a helping hoof. C'mon.'

Diomedes folded his wings back from his face, letting them hang loosely at his sides, lest any cactus needles become lodged in his own flanks or those of the rest of the company. Thus far, the nonliving portions of his wings were the only ones that had taken hits. His flight feathers were ruffled, but otherwise none the worse for wear. As long as the needles weren't in contact with anything alive, they couldn't cause any harm… at least that's what Dio hoped. He glanced back at his wings as he helped push Willow up onto Braeburn's back. Those were a lot of needles…

As the small herd of ponies made their way to the Doctor's cart, it was already beginning to inch its way forward. Dio picked up his pace, urging Braeburn to do the same. A cart moving without being drawn by other ponies? Dio had never seen anything like it before, but he supposed there was some magic that could make it go. He'd have to ask about it later; there were more pressing issues to attend to at the moment.

Bluebelle was already on board, frantically waving to the rest of them as they approached. Without hesitation, Dio leaped into the strange vehicle, quickly whirling around to grab Willow under her front legs and ease her into the cart. The whistling noise had returned and he glanced out the door to see that the cacti had finished off the decoy and were rapidly closing on their position. He extended a hoof to Braeburn, planning to close the door as soon as he was able to drag the earth pony on board. 'Now would be a good time to leave, Doc!'

[brianblackberry]

Braeburn had a million thoughts race through his mind as he helped the large crimson pegasus load the injured Willow Wisp into the wagon. Did her eerie blue glow look weaker? Or was he just imagining it? How was this "doctor" planning to move the strange, noisy wagon anyway? At least Bluebelle was also safely aboard.

Looking back, he could see the blue glowing cacti beginning to converge on their location, swarming like ghostly locusts ready to devour. What was that Willow Wisp said to him earlier? Appleloosa better hope those things never make it into town. He couldn't let that happen, not to his daring AAAAAAPPLEOOSA! The orange earth pony hesitated as Dio offered his hoof to help him into the cart. Maybe if he could distract those haunted cacti, lure them away so the others could escape ... It seemed like a good, if brazen, idea for a moment, but it depended on that "Doctor Whooves" doing the right thing and not try and follow him. Even more worrisome was the idea of leaving Miss Bluebelle and Miss Willow's safety in the hooves of strangers, and he durnt like that idea, not 'tall! He took the proffered hoof and leapt into the cart, giving a friendly nod to the large Pegasus. Braeburn still didn't know him, but the stallion had already shown himself to be courageous and self-sacrificing in saving Willow Wisp's life, and that was enough for this Apploosian.

Braeburn turned to Bluebelle for a moment. Braeburn so wanted to hug her, feeling emotional and relieved she was all right. He blushed as he whispered "Ah'm mighty glad y'all are safe, Miss Bluebelle; that was right brave what y'all did theah! Ah promise Ah won't let them harm one hair in yer pretty lil' mane."

Then he bent over Willow, letting out a shaky breath as worry and near-panic rushed through him for just a moment. He hadn't really gotten a chance to look at her before - she was severely injured. Bizarrely so - her leg looked like a raisin, all faded and grey and withered, and it was spreading up her haunch to the rest of her! Those needles had to come out! Braeburn was no medic, didn't have no fancy medical degree or supplies, all he could think of was to grab 'em with his teeth and pull 'em uout, poison or no! He couldn't let poor Miss. Willow suffer any more!

"Ah'm sorry, Miss Willow, but this is gonna sting more'n a lil'. We need t' get these needles out right quick." He spoke with what he hoped was a soothing smile, hiding his concern, Braeburn, Ah hope y'all know what ye're doin', he thought as he started pulling one needle after another out of her thigh, spitting them out onto the floor.

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves was skittish as he waited for everyone to get into the cart, his eyes alternating swiftly between the incoming ponies and the incoming cacti. "Come on, come on ..." Doctor Whooves murmured to himself, his hoof sliding over to give a smaller wheel on the control panel a spin. The cart responded by letting out a couple of 'ding' noises, as if he had struck a bell.

As Braeburn got his hooves into the cart, Doctor Whooves didn't wait a moment longer. He reached out and threw a lever, and a lever on the side of the metal box started rise and fall, rise and fall, first slowly, then faster and faster. The blue smoke billowed out of the back of the cart, the wheezing vworp vworp VWORP VWORP increased in volume and speed, and the cart rolled slowly forward for a few feet before it suddenly shuddered and LEAPED forward, accelerating rapidly.

At first, despite the cart moving along of its own accord, the cacti were closing. Doctor Whooves let out a delighted laugh, one hoof on the large ship's wheel, the other hoof wildly cranking a lever up and down repeatedly. "Woooohooo! Let's go!" A spray of needles came from the leading cacti, lodging themselves into the back of the cart, but then the cacti started falling behind. The next spray of needles buried themselves into the sand behind the cart, and then the group of ponies were up and away over the sand dunes, hovering in the air at the crest of each dune before landing heavily on the way down.

"Now *THAT* was close!" Doctor Whooves laughed, finally sparing a look for his passengers. He nodded in approval at Braeburn's first aid. "Good lad! Once you're done there, get her some water out of the barrels! That'll fix her right up!"

[WillowWisp]

Wisp hardly even made a sound as she was moved into the cart, letting nothing more than a sigh escape her. She couldn't help it, she just felt rather down. First of all she felt foolish that she got hurt. And on top of it, now she was dead weight. It was her fault they were out there in the first place; well at least for Braeburn and Bluebelle. Still, all and all, she was one depressed pony.

'Huh?' She had somewhat zoned out as she listened to the whirring of the cart. The others may have been wondering what allowed it to move on it's own, but Willow Wisp hadn't even taken notice. She just knew they were moving and away from the danger at that. So when Braeburn gave his warning to his impending aid, she didn't even really hear what he said.

With each needle he pulled out she clenched her eyes shut tight, doing her best to hold back small squeals of discomfort. It stung and it felt like each one was coming out agonizingly slow. For a moment she glanced back at him, but that only left her cheeks red. He was using his teeth. It really was the only option for an Earth Pony given the situation, but those needles were in her flank. What pony wouldn't feel embarrassed about such? Especially considering he was ,well, a he.

When the final needle was pulled, Willow Wisp finally drew a deep breath. The strange pony with the cart said something about water which caused her to arch a brow. Water would fix her leg? Well it was like the needles has sucked her dry, perhaps a drink would do the trick. Honestly with what she studied, stranger things had happened. But she'd have to wait until somepony helped her, because the shriveled limb wasn't going to allow her to walk to the water barrels on her own... unless she just tried to drag herself on the floor.

'Thanks,' she looked to Dio first since he had gotten to her before more needles could. 'And Bluebelle...' she turned her attention to the mule. 'Good job with that water... that probably was the only way we were going to get away from those...'

Finally she looked to Braeburn, but she was only able to look him in the eyes for a moment. She couldn't help feeling extremely foolish as she spoke to him, as if she'd embarrassed herself even more just because he'd been present. 'And...thank you for pulling those out. Who knows what would have happened if they had stayed in. And well... it was a risk to do it with your teeth... they could have been toxic or something. It's my fault you're even out here...and I did something stupid like running in. Even with my knowledge of this kind of thing, I got myself hurt, and put everypony else in danger.' No matter how she tried to at least look up when she spoke to him, she just couldn't and her eyes stayed focused off to the side.

She closed her eyes and drew a soft sigh. 'I've never heard of Spirit Fire acting so aggressively... let alone being able to have unique traits of things they possess. But... those were the starts of Spirit Lanterns... they could be a real threat swarming like that... especially if my guess about the train is right... well it would be big trouble... as dangerous as it sounds, we need to go back and find the source... or the town of Appleloosa could end up missing as well. Without a trace.'

[MudBug]

As the cart pulled off with a shudder and then a burst of speed, Bluebelle steadied herself on her hooves before glancing at everypony. They were all alright. Thank heavens. A look of relief flushed over her face as she stood there and steadied her breath before any hyperventilation took place, she didn't need that right now and she was sure none of the others needed the worry of that right now EITHER.

Watching them she offered a soft smile before Braeburn came over and whispered in her ear, going a tad pink as she saw the blush on his cheeks before she offered a small and incredibly nervous smile.

But soon her attention turned to Willow and watched with a soft wince as the needles were pulled from her thigh, oh how painful it looked. When she was adressed by the brave unicorn on her choice of throwing the water, the mule's ears ducked back and she smiled faintly.

"Well Ah jus' couldn' let a frien' get hurt bah those liddle brutes." She replied in a soft tone.

When the good doctor mentioned the water barrels, the mule tilted her head and moved to one of them, grasping a small cup that sat at the side by its handle and scooping up the water from inside the wooden barrel. Hearing its innards churn and sympathising greatly. This trip was a bit too bumpy for herself aswell.

Moving back she settled the cup near Willow and watched her speak forlornly of her endeavours, creasing her brow and listening on before she looked worriedly to the others for a moment. Gone without a trace? That wasn't good...not at all...But first things first.

"But before that, y'gonna have to drink up an' get yer strength back, miss Willow."

[Dio]

Diomedes

As the adrenaline wore off, Dio finally began to feel the weight of his own body. He slipped to his knees, laying down on the cool flooring of the cart, which was now racing along the desert floor at breakneck speed. He wasn't even going to ask the Doctor how he was able to make it do that; there were more pressing issues on hoof. The red Pegasus unsnapped his saddlebags, pulling them off his back and opening them up to get at their contents.

'I've got a first aid kit in my saddlebags,' Dio said, addressing Braeburn. 'You'll want to get some gauze around those needles before you— HEY WAIT!'

Before Dio could do anything, Braeburn had already begun pulling the needles out of Willow's haunch with his teeth. Diomedes facehoofed. What if they were toxic? What if they started attacking him? The enthusiasm was good, but his complete disregard for first aid and proper wound treatment was appalling. Diomedes sighed in exasperation. This was going to be a long night.

Reaching into his saddlebags, Dio retrieved a small metal box, popping it open to reveal several rolls of gauze and tape, antiseptic cream, and a sheathed knife similar to the one he kept strapped to his load-bearing harness. He unraveled a spool of gauze and fluffed it up into a ball before wrapping it with tape, looking up in time to see the blue molly bringing water to the injured unicorn. At least they had the sense to rehydrate her.

He looked to address Braeburn again. 'Take the needles and push them into that pincushion; that will keep them from rolling loose on the floor until we can figure out how to get rid of them permanently.'

Pushing the pincushion and antiseptic cream across the floor, he continued. 'You'll want to rub the area down with antiseptic and bandage over with gauze and tape as well to keep it from getting infected. Who knows what could have been on those needles?'

Diomedes took the remainder of the gauze spool and made himself a second pincushion, gripping a spare wad of gauze in his teeth as he began the arduous process of removing the needles from his flight feathers… one at a time.

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves let out a sigh of relief, glancing over his shoulder towards the blue glow far off in the distance... though it was a bit hard to see over the blue glow right behind him. "That did it!" he finally said, as he could see, far off, the Cacti turning and heading back. "They've lost us!" He threw a lever again, spun a wheel, and a loud hiss sounded from behind everyone, blue steam venting out the rear of the cart. The 'vworp vworp vworp' wheezing noise slowed, and the cart sputtered and slowed at the top of a hill, ringing with a deep, reverberating metallic 'bwoooong' as the cart rolled backwards just a couple inches, then came to rest.

the pony kept a wary eye on the horizon as he turned around in the tightly packed little cart, everypony barely able to fit in here. "Ah, good job, good job!" he said, seeing everypony taking care of Willowwisp. He knew from personal experience that Willow's leg should pop right back into good working order. He shifted his haunches at the memory of the sting of the cactus needles...

"Right, so! Everyone alive? Good on ya! Glad of that, then! First things first, I answered all your questions... least you could do is answer the ones you all avoided back there! Never saw a batch of ponies so loathe to introduce themselves! Also, how *do* you do such a *lovely* glow?" The last was to Willow Wisp, though he was looking around generally at everyone.

As Dio pushed the needles into the pincushion, it seemed to wither up a bit - the pincushion starting to shrink, to wither up like a raisin, right before Dio's eyes ... no more than half a minute before the pincushion finally collapsed into a little pile of dust with the cactus needles lying amongst the dust. Then the cactus needles themselves, their purpose fulfilled, collapsed into dust themselves. The fate Willow Wisp had narrowly avoided.

[brianblackberry]

Now that all the needles were out, Braeburn was more inclined to listen, looking over to Dio and taking his cue about putting all the needles into a wad of gauze. Braeburn just nodded and again grabbed each with his mouth and stuck in them in there, thinking that if they hadn't hurt him yet, touching them again couldn't hurt, as long as he was carful. After he'd put away the first few needles, he watched in astonishment as the gauze withered like some sort of dried up flower before becoming dust, the needles quickly following suit. "Tarnation! In all mah years ah've never seen th' like!" Braeburn then looked to Willow Wisp, giving a reassuring if worried smile, "looks like we managed to get y'all t' safety just in time, Miss Willow!" He felt a heavy unease - all that was going on around him, it was so ... strange. Unnatural like.

First things first, though. Braburn picked up the antiseptic gel that Dio slid across to him. He gave the injured black unicorn a reassuring smile. "Looks like yer glow is starting t' come back, Miss Willow! We'll have y'all fixed right up!" He took a dab of the ointment with his forehoof and blushed slightly as he looked at the injured thigh. "Ah'm sorry about this, Miss Willow, but this might hurt a mite." Braeburn lightly and carefully dabbed the gel over each spot the needles were, trying to be as delicate as possible, partially not wanting to cause her anymore pain, and partially out of embarrassment on his part about touching a mare's thigh, even in these circumstances.

When Bluebelle brought over some water for Willow Wisp to drink, which made even more sense after the bizarre scene with the needles, he smiled in releif. "Oh Miss Bluebelle, Ah knew we could count on y'all! Keep 'em coming," he stated rather fervently, as to make sure Bluebelle's spirits would stay high under these difficult and fantastical circumstances.

When Braeburn lightly laid the gauze around Willow Wisp's injured thigh, he was relieved to hear from their eccentric "rescuer" that they had managed to lose those "lantern cacti". Looking up at the brown earth pony as he held the spool of medical tape with his hooves, Braeburn figured he could be the first to answer, "thankee fer getting us away from here. Mah name is Braeburn and Ah'm from AAAAAAAPPLEOOSA!" his lifting spirits showed as he reared back briefly in the cart, coming back down to go right back to tending Miss Willow. "These two purty ladies with me are Bluebelle and Willow Wisp. Ah'm afraid ah don't know who this pardner is," he said, nodding towards Dio.

He taped down the gauze over Willow's leg, focusing on that for a moment, then looked back up towards the odd earth pony, this Doctor Whoves. "Look, Ah dunno why y'all were out there and all, but Ah'm goin' to need a favor from y'll. Once Ah kin get out, Ah need y'all t'take everyone here back to AAAAAAAPPLEOOSA, safe and sound! Ah gotta find a way to stop those ... things from hurtin' mah town!"

[WillowWisp]

'Thank you Bluebelle.'

First things first, Wisp was quick to drink the water the mule got for her. It felt so refreshing and sure enough as she drank, her withered limb began to return to normal. She could even feel it again as it had started to go numb. However that had a draw back as Braeburn treated the area with the ointment. But at least the pain was a sign she was going to be okay.

'Eep...' she let out one little squeal as the last of the ointment was applied before he moved to bandaging her flank. Of course the blush was still on her cheeks. It was just an all around awkward spot for him to be touching, even if it was for her own health. But she found some comfort in knowing that he was probably just as embarrassed by it as well. Surely it would be part of a story they could all laugh about sometime down the road.

With her leg bandaged and no longer withered, she sat up and drew a long sigh. The strange pony who owned the cart and brought it to a stop and was now asking questions. One specifically aimed at her. 'It... it just happens. When I'm in the dark, this glow appears. Ever since I was just a newborn foal. It's how I got my name.' Wisp really felt uncomfortable with it. She was pretty good at hiding that fact but she did often worry about scaring others with it because she had no way to stop it. 'I can't make it... turn off... unless I go into a well lit area.'

Since Braeburn had offered her name she didn't repeat it. Instead she just looked out over the edge of the cart toward the direction they had come from. 'And we were out here because I wanted to investigate a local story from Braburn's town. About a missing train and it's engineers... I asked him to be my guide into the pass here at night. That's just what I do. I study these types of things and collect the facts so I can someday make a book about what is real and what isn't.'

Her attention snapped back to Braeburn when he asked the Doctor to take everypony else back to town so he could find a way to protect Appleloosa from the threat. 'You can't go after those things alone!' She turned to face him with a stern look. 'What they did to me... and just those little wads of gauze.. that's not normal for Spirit Fire. And the way they swarmed, they must be protecting something. I have a feeling I know what it is too.' She wasn't about to let the stallion run off without any knowledge of these supernatural things.

'I will be going with you. I know more about this kind of thing than you do. And if you were to go alone, you could end up missing just like that train.' Willow Wisp wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. And just to confirm her determination she added a cryptic message. 'If my thinking is right... what we're dealing with is one power Spirit Lantern.'

[MudBug]

Smiling as Willow drank up and got up her strength, she had to watch on with a worried expression plastered over her features as the unicorn spoke about those little balls of flame and those big, floppy ears fell back slightly.

Going with this strange stallion after those little brutish things? That was crazy! But she did have to admire the mare's confidence, even after getting her leg wounded by the little things.

Watching the conversation as one might watch a tennis match, her head looking to one, then the other as the words played off each other and finally she took a soft breath and smiled towards the dark pelted unicorn.

"Well, miss Wisp." The mule said with a soft smile. "If y'all are gonna go into tha' there hornet's nest, y'can coun' on me to be comin' wit' ya."

That didn't just happen.

Those words did NOT just pass her lips.

Was she insane? Was she feverish? She MUST be. That's the only explanation.

But the skittish thoughts were soon shaken from her head as she continued to keep her smile for Willow's sake.

"Wouldn' wan' th' same thing to happen again."

[Dio]

'Namffs Diomedes, buff fou can call me Dio,' He said through the gauze in his teeth. The Red Pegasus dropped the wadding as he removed the last of the needles from his flight feathers. He nodded at each of his new acquaintances. 'I would have preferred less dangerous circumstances, but it's good to know who I'm working with.'

A hissing sound began emanating from the floor of the cart and Diomedes recoiled at what he saw. His improvised pincushion had shriveled up and crumbled to dust. The gauze wasn't even alive, I'd hate to think of what it could have done had I left those needles in any longer. Dio shuddered at the sudden thought of losing his wings. They were his pride and livelihood! It was game over if… no. Dio pushed the thought from his head. He'd beaten the odds again and there was no reason to dwell on unrealized realities.

'I guess it would be redundant to say that I really don't want to be here right now, wherever 'here' is. I was flying from Bareback Gulch to Ponyville and the next thing I know I'm lying on the ground with a splitting headache looking like I'd just gotten into a fight with a manticore,' he said, gesturing towards his superficial scratches and mussed up mane and tail. 'My boss is going to throw a fit when he finds out one of his mail carriers went AWOL.'

As Braeburn mentioned Appleloosa, Dio's ears perked up. 'Appleloosa? If that's the closest town, I must have been blown farther off course than I'd thought!'

The mail pony gathered up his first aid kit and started treating the cuts and scratches on himself. As he went about his business, he listened carefully to the stories of the other ponies, trying his best to wrap his brain around the situation. A doomed train, a ghost-hunting expedition, Spirit Lanterns… it sounded like a high adventure story was unfolding right before his eyes and he was caught in the middle of it.

As the conversation moved back and forth, Dio's ear twitched at the direction it was headed. Braeburn wanted to single-hoofedly save Appleloosa from those Spirit Lantern things? Willow Wisp wanted to go with him to study the Spirit Lanterns? Bluebelle and the Doctor weren't willing to leave them behind? Dio snorted incredulously.

'You want my honest opinion? You all are crazy. Braeburn, if you think you can take on those things without magic after seen what they can do, you're crazy. Willow, if you think you can charm them with diplomacy, you're crazy. Bluebelle, if you think it's safe to go in after them without some serious firepower, you're crazy. And you, the Doctor; you're the craziest out of all of us. I don't even know what you're planning on doing with those spirit lanterns.'

Diomedes was wasn't exactly in the best of moods. Maybe it was his poor first impression of both the Doctor and Braeburn. Maybe it was the weight of his fatigue speaking. Maybe it was the fact that he could possibly be fired for going AWOL. Maybe it was because there was a distinct possibility that they could all be killed out here by rampaging cacti on fire. But as the thoughts swirled around in the big Pegasus' head, he made his decision.

'But you know what? I can't leave you guys behind. If I were to take off tomorrow morning by myself, your blood would be on my hooves. I can't have that. I'm going with you. To hell with getting to work on time. Someone needs to keep you ponies alive.'

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves blinked, and turned his head to look at Dio with a surprised expression. He turned quickly around, slightly unsteady on his feet, to give the pegasus a closer look, his eyes narrowing. "Now, listen here," he said firmly, seriously. "You're very right. What can an earth pony do? Nothing! No firepower? Madness! To talk to them? Unlikely! It's all quite impossible!"

He narrowed one eye, and opened the other a little further. "But there's one more thing you're right about. And it's the one thing that will save all of our lives. I am, quite possibly, the most crazy pony you will ever meet!" He grinned fiercely. "And I have no idea how to give up, or how to fail! Ponykind has only moved forward by those who didn't know they could not succeed!"

He turned and looked off to the horizon, at the blue glow that was slowly receeding. "And besides. There's this *thing* I do. A plan, you could say. I'm very, very good at coming up with an idea at *just* the right time." He grinned, tapped his cutie mark, the hourglass. "Because that's what I do. And each of you, you know your strengths as well. So I'll tell you what I'm going to do."

He turned back to look at them. "I'm going back to where I found them. I'm going back to the underground temple in the haunted cave. And I will find out what is going on, and I'll find out what they're guarding, and I'll find out how to stop them. And I will be very, very glad for all of your help. Especially you, Willow Wisp, since you seem to already know what they are. I'll admit, I'd never have recognized them as wisps, and you sound like you know a lot more about them than I do."

He grinned broadly. "And just as a grand finale ... I think I'll survive, as well."

(( Continued in Night Riding - Into the Cave! ))