[Sweet Apple Acres] 100 Country Kisses (Closed. NO Kisses Left)

[EquestrianScholar]

Guiding light realized that in his worry about what the letter contained he missed out on meeting Princess Luna and thus helping the pony out. But Light knew that the princess of the Night would be still there and that there was one pony in front of him that still needed apples.

"Don't worry Mythos. I think I still may have a change to help you with that letter."

It was a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless. Light hoped his shyness didn't derail the opportunity. But maybe it could help him in this case. If there was one thing he knew from seein other ponies, it was acting cute and innocent led to foals getting away with practically anything. Slowly a plan formed in his mind...

Mythos looked over to where the princess well, as well as a very odd pink mare, an old wrinkly old mare, and a stallion holding a now crying baby. He saw this as a very amusing scene though he hide a smile, and he considered what to do. He heard the foal’s words and the stallion turned to look at him, noticing a look in the young foal’s eyes causing a chuckle to escape his lips before asking “It would seem you have a plan coming along?”

[Lux]

"Yes, I think I do," Light said with a little show of confidence. Sure, his plan wasn't fool proof, but it was better than nothing.

"Well, after i get my apples and that kiss, then I think I can try one thing with Princess Luna."

[StarStorm]

Star sighed. "Why do I always have to explain it?!" She pointed a hoof up the direction of Applejack. "Eminem.. Do you see that mare up there with the cowboy hat? The blonde one? Her name's Applejack, and today, when you buy a bushel of apples, you get a kiss from her. I don't know about you.. but I'M excited!" Star Storm paused, looking back and forth between the two. "WAIT, am I really the ONLY one who showed up just for the kiss..?" She blushed, suddenly embarassed. Her tone changed along with her expression. "...I mean... I don't know if she'd let me have a kiss.. Since I'm just a little pony and all.."

[MasterMustang]

"Wait... I get kissed for buying apples?" Brew suddenly turned cherry red. He thought that all of this was just a clever sales pitch. He looks at the mare that Star described at the booth. Her blonde hair shines in the sunlight as does her orange coat. She looks so amazing... Mustang gets even redder. Mares are Mustang's greatest weakness. He begins to get anixious in line. His tail sways nervously. He paces a little. Oh my, oh my, oh my... what am I going to do? I hope I don't mess this this up... this is such an important first impression! He looks back at Star with an obviously fake smile. "Well isn't that... um... clever..." he says wiping sweat from his forehead. He looks at Applejack again. Why must such beautiful mares bring me so much anxiety? Am I cursed?

[Trilobite]

Parhelion, seeing his new friend a-twitter, laughed. "I know, right? I was totally caught by surprise. Flumgasted. Blabberfounded! This has really been a day for...well! I mean, what a day!" The pegasus stopped for a moment and craned his neck to see the source of the crying. "Hope that foal's okay...oh, and don't worry., Star Storm. Apple Jack'll give you a kiss. Earth ponies are very dependable. Honest."

[StarStorm]

"Sure is Clever!" Star shot back. "That's why I showed up, so I certainly hope so!" They sure are dependable.. Star Storm remembered her best friend, Pepperjack, who was an earth pony. She was always dependable, honest, and a total goodie horseshoes. Star had never met an earth pony who wasn't dependable.. Parhelion was sure right about that.

[EquestrianScholar]

"Yes, I think I do," Light said with a little show of confidence. Sure, his plan wasn't fool proof, but it was better than nothing.

"Well, after i get my apples and that kiss, then I think I can try one thing with Princess Luna."

"Very good," Mythos says with a smile and a nod before frowning just a bit as he continued to hear the baby crying before saying, "can you excuse me for a moment."

Mythos walked slowly forward with the words, "excuse me, thank you, don't worry I will return to my place." As he got to Mr. Cake and his foal his horn started to glow and he created what seemed to be colors and lights in the shape of small birds, having them flying near the baby's head. Looking over at the stallion and glancing at the excitable pink mare he says, "I hope I am not intruding, but I felt maybe I could help."

[deleteaccountpls]

Carrot Cake's eyes widen with panic as he suddenly hears the all-too-familiar sound of Pumpkin screaming and crying her head off. "No, no, no, shh, shhhhh. It's okay Pumpkin, don't cry." he said, cradling the crying foal in his foreleg. This was bad, not only was Pumpkin making a scene in a public place, she was also doing so in front of royalty! He just hoped that Princess Luna would throw him and Pumpkin in a dungeon for disturbing her. As he futilely attempted to comfort and quiet her, looked over a Pinkie Pie. "I-I don't know! She was fine just a minute ago, then she just became hysterical!" Carrot said, then he saw Luna and realized something and leaned in close to Pinkie, whispering in her ear. "You don't think… she got like this because she's afraid of the Princess, do you?" Carrot Cake said, recalling the fiasco that was last year's Nightmare Night.

[Hippo]

Applejack looked at Electric. Then she looked at the Princess in the distance. Electric. Princess. Vibe. Luna. Pinkie in the way. Applejack was so distracted. She wanted to blurt to Pinkie to stop bugging Luna and let her ahead. But she had to take care of her own business. This very patient pegasus pony had waited on deck for what seemed like forever. The pony started talking confused, not knowing what kind of apples to buy. Applejack decided to make it easy on her. "Stop right there, Missy. Don't you fret. I got an idea!" Applejack picked up a bushel of apples on her back and dropped it in front of Electric. "Take a gander at these apples. They are all different kinds. We make bushels like this of all different types of apples for those ponies who either don't care or can't decide." Applejack took an apple up by the hoof, balancing on the sole. "Any and all of these apples are good for most anything. You really cant go wrong!" As soon as Applejack concluded that sentence, she tossed the apple in the air and caught it with her mouth, eating it in one very graceful swallow. "I got two of these for five bits each. Want 'em?"

((Enforced immediately: I've been very forgiving in this thread when it comes to amount of content, but it's getting a little out of hoof, now. Effective immediately, I will be putting a 5 sentence minimum on all future RP posts in this thread. Please try to be thorough and descriptive with your ponies, your pony's thoughts, and your pony's actions. There's more to a pony post than just what they are saying.))

76 Kisses left!

Next up

25. Electric Vibe

26. Guiding Light (Luna cut)

27. Mythos Gray (Luna cut)

28. Harrington Sleuth (Luna cut)

29. Carrot Cake/Pumpkin Cake (Luna cut)

30. Inkwell (Luna cut)

31. Pinkie Pie

32. Princess Luna

33. Parhelion

34. Star Storm

35. Master Mustang

36. Prime Meridian

(If the line order is incorrect, please tell me in PM)

On hold:

Survey (On standby and may kiss at any time)

Savory Spell (inactive - PM me when ready)

Problems and rules log (please review):

-Princess Luna is a pony of royalty. Any pony in line who wants to recognize her and let her cut in front of them is allowed to. Every player is responsible for their character. The line order applies to the princess too, but if characters want to change positions in line, that is allowed.

-Characters that are inactive will be put on hold when they get to the front of the line. If you are going to be inactive, please PM me. No one is in trouble, and everyone is still being included in the story, should they want to continue. Just give me a heads up.

-If you need to speak out of character with an individual, try to do it in a private message. If you 'have' to do it in the thread, make sure it's at the end of your posts under a spoiler tag. If it is not, it will be reported for deletion.

-Line order is not a posting order, just the order in which they are lined up. If it is your turn in the line or if its coming up soon, feel free to post whenever you want to advance the story. Please refrain from posting too much if you are deep in the queue.

-Limit two characters for each player receiving kisses until further notice.

-Please keep in mind that a purchase gets your pony a kiss from AJ, not AJ gets a kiss from your pony. If you want to do something 'crazy' that involves AJ, please PM me for permission.

Kissed

1-10

1. Carrot Fields

2. Reno Golucky

3. Lore Weaver

4. Dunder Blust

5. Gentle Sol

6. Flam

7. Starburst

8. Astral

9. Flim

10. Silverbolt

11-20

11. Klondike

12. Lyra Heartstrings

13. Donut "Pony" Joe

14. Rarity

15. Pigpen

16. Cherry Jubilee

17. Misty Morning

18. Pathfinder

19. Earth Writer

20. Thorn

21-30

21. Metal Maker

22. Twilight Shine

23. Opal Shards

24. Bon Bon

[SteelEagle]

Apple Bloom nodded along with her sister, the many benefits of apples being so apparent that sometimes she wondered why they needed to tell everypony. You didn't need to tell ponies that Celestia ruled Equestria or that hoofball was the best sport in all of the land, so why did you need to repeatedly inform them as to why apples were so incredibly delicious, nutritious, and useful? Equestrian education certainly lacked enough discussion on the matter. Why, if she didn't know better, she'd swear the whole dang country was somehow opposed to the truth of how incredible apples were! That needed to change and change fast. Tomorrow she was going to trot up to Miss Cheerilee and tell her that unless "An Orchard's Life" became standard classroom reading material across the entire country, she was plain not gonna show up any more!

"Yeah, ya can't go wrong with any apples, no matter what anypony at some fancy uni-varsity says!" She blurted out, her train of though entirely devoid of any current relevance. At least now she had something to discuss with Princess Luna when she came up besides how pretty her wings were and wondering if it hurt when her sister bucked Nightmare Moon right out of her. Education Reform- certainly that was kissing booth discussion material!

[Lux]

Light was satisfied that Mythos liked the fact that he had a plan. The truth was that he didn't have a clear goal in mind. It was a dangerous mission to get Princess Luna's attention, distract the guards, and give her a letter and avoid being banished or imprisoned or both. He realized that this was like a plot out of a Battle Mages book where the Mages had to deliver a message to Princess Stellar while avoiding her captors and the evil Lord Nacht. But Light was no Battle Mage, much as he'd want to be.

While Mythos went away, possibly to quell the crying foal behind him, Light hatched a plan.

"Ok," he said as he started making a mantal list, "What do I have? Shyness. Yeah' like that's going to help unless I want to play the shy cut colt opton." He shivered at that thought as he wanted to be seen as a stallion, and that move would destroy all his past attempts. "Hmm... I do have my light magic! Maybe that can work."

He summoned his magic, and produced a color changing ball of light that hovered high above him. Sure it was the daytime and the ball would be better seen in the night, but it was the best chance he had. He then waited and hoped that this woul get the Princess's attention and hopefully not in a negative way.

[Davroth]

After observing the two elderly ponies, and their reaction, for a bit with some satisfaction, Opal straightened her back, and tugged the saddlebags shut, feeling the weight of 2 bushels of apples weighing her down. Though, one doesn't train for almost a year with a prestigious stunt team, and get beaten by some apples. As she trotted on, she did her best to hide the strain on her, and succeeded for the most part. She passed the farmer mare Applejack, who was, once again, busy selling more apples to ponies.

The princess had come a lot closer in the time she had last checked. Looked like she had been cutting in line. Smiling behind his tinted glasses, she slowed to a light trot. She was in no hurry, especially when royalty was present.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Luna hadn't missed the comment about her rump from the little yellow filly she'd just passed, but she was too preoccupied to do anything about it. But such talk from one so young! Where were her parents, anyway? Even so, not a single one of the adults corrected her on her etiquette or shushed her from making any more possibly rude comments about her shapely figure. It was a compliment in its own way, but Luna still felt awkward to have somepony talk about her like that out loud.

“I don't think that's such a good—I mean, you were there, you know—but—“ The longer she stared into those pleading blue eyes on that pleading pink face, the harder it was for her to say “no.” She glanced around at all the others present, most of which were bowed and waiting for her to pass. Using “the voice” would attract a lot of attention, although... it seemed that was already the case with her unexpected arrival.

Before she could choose to reply with “the voice” or not, the elderly Apple family member had made her way to their position, along with another Apple in tow. But the two were there and gone before she could quite figure out what the one with the pie Cutie Mark and Pinkie were even talking about. Probably best to just not ask. But the one with the strudel Mark was back a second later, urging her to the front.

“Thank you, good sir, but I believe I can take care of it on my own.” she smiled as politely as she could. In truth, she didn't want to cut anypony who wouldn't allow it, even if she would perhaps think them rude for not offering the proper respect. Fair was fair, and even a princess had to have patience, right?

She cleared her throat, knowing that such a display could make her joyous and casual appearance turn sour very quickly. But, with a deep breath, she resigned herself to comply, being unable to turn down the large eyes before her. “WE ARE GRATEFUL THAT A COMPROMISE COULD BE REACHED THIS DAY, AND THAT THERE SHALL BE NO ILL WILL TO FALL BETWEEN YOU AND I. WE ACCEPT THE EXCHANGE, AND WILL BE GOING NOW.” With that, she passed up Pinkie Pie in the line.

There were several others that were bowed yet out of the way, obviously allowing her to pass. She wasn't in a particular hurry, but now that she could smell the apples all around her, she was a bit more eager to get to the front and get some of the delectable fruit. Still, she didn't want to be rude to anypony that would like to speak with her, even if it would delay her quest slightly.

She was able to pass up a beige Unicorn colt, a yellow Earth stallion and what appeared to be his daughter, a red Pegasus stallion, and a white Unicorn stallion, but she paused when she reached a yellow Unicorn foal. It seemed that the white Pegasus mare who was ahead in line had no intention of letting her pass, and for the moment she was intrigued by the display of the young one. Her wait time had been cut down significantly, so she could wait a little longer, right? She looked past the ponies in front of her, past the booth were the apples were being sold, to where the uncountable rows of apple trees were. Just look at all the apples...

She forced herself to pay attention to the pony before her, and the curious sphere that he seemingly had created. “That's quite an interesting skill.” she tried to compliment him. “What's your name, young colt?” Striking up a conversation would pass the time faster than simply standing in line, Luna reasoned.

[Rosewind]

Pinkie Pie grinned enthusiastically as the Princess humored her with the Royal Canterlot Voice. Her mane flapped backwards from the strong breath, and the echoing sound. Her lips curled backwards under the wind pressure as she grin, grin, grinned all the while, her large blue eyes watering. Her tears swept away along the sides of her face like small crystal droplets. Once Luna had finished speaking and passed her by, she remained perfectly still, her curly pink mane wind-swept backwards as she stared off into space. Very slowly the pink mare teetered, then she fell over like a concrete lawn ornament, still grinning. Her hooves stuck straight up into the air, and she was still. Such was the power of the Royal Canterlot Voice.

Pumpkin fell dead silent. After the Princess' speech, she calmly stuck her hoof in her mouth, her eyes wide, as she watched her sitter flop over supine. Her crying was done. She snuggled into her Father's neck as she watched Princess Luna move away from them. She had never seen anything like that before!

[Mojo]

"Step right up here, Princess Luna!" Granny Smith proudly announced. "We got apples fer sale! Buy a bushel, git a kiss from AppleJack! That's the deal!"

Uncle Apple Strudel was still bowed in reverence to the Princess, even as she politely dismissed him and had made her way up the line by herself. The bearded elderly stallion watched her go by and then got back upright on his four feet.

"I vill get mein camera so vee can save dis great moment for all time!" he shouted, quickly galloping towards the barn and returning with a large tripod camera (one of those REALLY old time ones). The elderly stallion set it up, including loading the top bar with flash powder.

"Your highness," the Germaney accented stallion spoke, "vould you be so kind as to allow me to take some photographs of you visiting our apple stand? It vould mean a lot to all of us if you vould, please?"

Although he was old, Uncle Apple Strudle could still manage the adorable 'sad eyes' look to punctuate his points.

[deleteaccountpls]

As Carrot Cake tried desperately to calm Pumpkin Cake down, he suddenly found himself being hit by a sudden gale wind that seemed to come out of nowhere. Looking around for the source of this sudden strong gust, he quickly identified the source as Princess Luna as he noticed the loud words being carried along with the winds. As Carrot turned his head to the Princess, he felt the strong winds of her words hitting him with their blunt force that he couldn't bring himself to turn his head completely. He was, however, able to see that Pinkie was standing right in front of Luna taking the full force of her voice.

Once Luna's voice finally subsided, Carrot Cake quickly collected himself and prepared to continue his attempts at calming Pumpkin, who would likely now be crying harder than ever, only to be surprised to see that she was now completely quiet. This came as quite a surprise to Carrot, who was at first worried that perhaps Pumpkin might be in shock from the Princess's voice. A moment later, the foal stuck her hoof in her mouth, sucking on it happily, indicating that she was just fine. "Huh… I guess that must've done it." Carrot Cake said, clearly relieved at this turn of events.

[Chocoswirl]

Electric looked quite curiously at the bushel that was put in front of her. It seemed like a very good idea, as she wouldn't really have to choose from one kind of apple. It'd also be interesting for her to try and see what some of the apples in that bushel taste like. After a few moments of quick thinking, Electric nodded her head in approval. If they were good for anything, perhaps she would try baking pies, or something of the sort...although she wasn't a very good baker, now that she thought of it. "Sure! That seems like a great idea!" she spoke, looking at the apples. Five bits for each of the bushels seemed like a good enough deal for her as well. "I'll take it!"

And with that statement, Electric used her wings and opened up the left side of her double-sided blue saddlebag. Taking out a hooffull of bits, she carefully counted the coins, until she reached the right amount of bits. With her wing, she handed them out to the orange earth pony in front of her. Ah, finally! Now I can get the apples...err...the kiss...and I can get back home! Electric didn't really want to seem rude when she was impatient, but she couldn't help but mentally sigh in relief. So much was going on in the line behind her, and she wasn't really in the mood to get caught up in those sorts of things.

[EquestrianScholar]

Mythos returned to his place in line behind Guiding Light, as it would seem he was not needed to calm the crying baby. This was fine though he did consider speaking with Princess Luna while he was nearby... yet felt it could wait as he had technically cut in front of the other ponies, even though it had only been for a moment.

Be turned to his new 'friend' and asked softly, "have you decided how you will approach our fair princess of the night? If not I have a few suggestions.” As he says this a smile is clear on his face, as if he considered this to be some sort of game or puzzle and the young pony was the key in solving it. As he speaks to Guiding Light he thinks back to when he had first learned of the princesses, or particually when he had read of the legend of the mare of the moon.

[Lux]

At first Light thought that the color changing ball was not working. Sure it was harder to see, but at least he could see some of it even in the direct sunlight. He thought that maybe the Princess was preoccupied with something else. Suddenly, Luna let out a loud bellowing voice that caused his fur abd mane to stand on end. Immediately he lost his concentration and the ball went away. This wasn't the first time he heard that voice. He was at Nightmare Night when the Princess decided to drop by and heard that voice again. He didn't have a chance tough to meet with her that night, and he forgot that voice until now. After her speaking like that, he began to wonder if he should do that.

To his surprise, Light hear a voice next to him and turned to see Princess Luna standing there, inquiring about his light! Recovering from the shock that his plan actually worked to get the princess's attention, he figured that by talking to her then he could somehow slip in the note for Mythos.

"Oh... well thank you Princess Luna. I've been practicing my light magic every chance I can. It's tricky as I only know a few ponies who know about my magic."

Light then realized that the Princess had asked him a question and it would be rude not to answer it.

My name is Guiding Light, but you can call me just Light, as everypony does. Actually I wanted to give you this letter. It's not from me but from a friend."

[SteelEagle]

You had to forgive these ponies their minor indiscretions, seeing as being around so many tasty apples could do a number on even the Apples themselves. She'd be lying if Apple Bloom said that she didn't occasionally let her attention wander to the voluminous trees around them which spoke such sweet things to her. The aroma of the apples was vibrant and if one listened closely they could almost hear the crackling sweetness that every lovingly crafted Sweet Apple Acres apple had bubbling beneath their varied exteriors. It was something you could get lost in and she couldn't blame anypony for joining her in getting mystified by them. Then again, that still didn't excuse ignorance and as such her plan for Luna was the same: Shove "An Orchard's Life" into her maw as quickly as possible. And, as luck would have it, the fierce crashing wind that Luna expelled as she shouted knocked her to her flank, meaning that the princess surely needed something to stuff up that rude mouth of hers.

Still, the unannounced filly slam on the ground that stole her breath served a useful purpose. As she opened her eyes and rubbed her flank, a somewhat unnerving sight interrupted her thought processes. They had been doing quite well, selling apples almost as fast as she believed apples should have been sold, but she was also ignorantly operating under the belief that they had broght to the stand all the apples theyd'd ever need. Well, no Apple was a certified mathematician she figured but she still felt a small pang of guilt when she stared at the collection of empty bushels that now held dearly onto the spaces once occupied by their apples. They were dangerously, creepily low on apples, as if some invisible thief had greedily stuffed his or her face full of apples under the guise of an invisibility spell. She quickly secured her perimeter by swiping at empty air- drats, the unicorn responsible must have gotten away! She poked Applejack on the flank desperately.

"Applejack, we're all outta apples down here! Musta been some wily unicorn who snuck up and took it!" Apple Bloom offered to her sister, fully aware of how silly a thought it was and beyond happy to indulge in a fantasy. "Ah'ma gonna go back ta tha silo and see if Ah can't russle up a few more bushels for us. Ah better be real sneaky like or else that invisible unicorn could snatch'em right up!" She finished with a laugh, turning away from the stand and trotting away. Of course in order to remain hidden from the invisible apple stealing unicorn, she had to make sure to not step on the grass which, as one could imagine, was a difficult task since it was lava. Thank Celestia for the occasional pocket of clear land in between the grass, or else she was bound to run into trouble!

And so Apple Bloom, with no great haste, giggled as she skipped from safe spot to safe spot on her way to the storage.

OOC Note- Continue to post, but the front of the line shall stagnate as River is taking some time off due to a computer issue.

[Bellosh]

Dr. Spin Tale grunted as he neared Sweet Apple Acres. Living in Canterlot, the doctor had only visited Ponyville once before a few years back, when he needed a few of the local library’s archival sources for a student research assignment. Absentmindedly, Dr. Tale wondered how the librarian was doing… an old mare if he recalled correctly. Maybe she finally went into retirement and found a new librarian to fill her horseshoes? Ah well… today was the birthday of Spin Tale’s dad, and Spin wanted to surprise his father with some apples straight from Sweet Apple Acres.

Dr. Tale remembered from his foalhood days how his dad, Corporal Little Horn, developed a liking for Apple Family apples back when his unit was stationed near Ponyville. Apparently, Little Horn’s parents frequently teased their son about his acquired taste in fruit, them being grape growers and all. Spin had to agree with his grandparents on that issue… but he’d put that aside just this one day to make his dad happy.

Such reminisces came to a crashing halt though once Spin Tale saw the line outside of the apple orchard. The doctor intended for his trip to be a swift one; seeing the line put him in a somewhat foul mood. Taking a quick look-around to see whatever could be causing such a line, Dr. Tale eventually spied the promotional banners posted around. “A kissing booth?” Spin exclaimed in incredulity; “Really?” The stallion did not have the time for this; he didn’t want to miss the next train back to Canterlot. But… he was already here, and his dad would really appreciate that fresh apple bushel as a birthday gift. Adjusting his tie and rolling his eyes, Spin Tale trotted over to the line, resigned to his fate of waiting in what now appeared to be a very, verrrrry slow moving line.

[BrainedBySaucepans]

A carefree figure strolled down the Canterlot road toward Sweet Apple Acres, bulging saddlebags slung across his back, and a pipe clenched firmly in the teeth of a wide grin. He had an ash-grey coat, and on his flank was an apple of shining gold. A spectrum of multi-coloured bubbles emerged from the bowl of the pipe at erratic intervals, drifting up in to the sky in a lazy progression reminiscent of that of their progenitor.

Professor Ashen Smirk, formerly of Canterlot University, was in a foul mood. His self-imposed exile had barely begun, and already he was unsure whether leaving his adopted hometown had been the right path for him.

Before his departure, there had been no doubt in his mind. The glittering spires which once seemed so defiant and full of promise had become the bars of a gilded cage. The archives themselves, his source of intellectual nourishment, now seemed to mock him. His last visit had been a harrowing one; leafing through the volumes of the tomes from which he had formulated his philosophy, he could find no inspiration. Instead, they seemed to mock the very concepts that had seemed so self-evident before…

Now, distance had changed his perspective. He realised just how much Canterlot had become home to him. Not just a collection of buildings and faces, but a way of thinking, of living. He had spent the entirety of his academic life within its protective cocoon, but now, seen from the outside, it was amazing how the place exuded a sense of certainty and optimism.

Perhaps there’s enough material for a paper in this: “How the minds that shape Equestria are shaped by its capital”? Title needs work, but there’s bound to be plenty of sources I can draw from. After all, one of the main traits of Canterlot academics is a tendency to produce scholarly documents so self-absorbed you’d think the rest of the world didn’t exist…

His thoughts trailed off, and his constant smile was cranked wider by several millimetres. A bitter laugh escaped as he acknowledged the just how firmly the pattern of his thoughts demonstrated the truth of his observations. I’m certainly not immune. I was right to leave.

His hooves had brought him to an apple orchard, and it occurred to him that apples would serve him well on the long journey ahead of him. He registered the long queue, and automatically took his place at the end of it, too wrapped up in his own thoughts to think too much about anything else. He wasn’t in a hurry.

Canterlot is a mental prison, and the sooner I escape the better. I was even beginning to miss students. He shuddered slightly at this thought, but once he regained his composure it began to dawn on him that his thought about students hadn’t come entirely out of nowhere. In fact, the red coated, rather undernourished looking stallion in front of him looked vaguely familiar…

[Bellosh]

“Waaaaaaiting…….. I’m still waaaiting….” Quietly humming to himself, nothing could cure Dr. Spin Tale’s boredom. While he did glimpse near the front of the line a tall pony looking like Princess Luna herself, Dr. Tale knew it was foolish to bother trying to introduce himself to her. No; it would mean he would have to give up his spot in this wretched line and then go back to the end. Spin had to suck this up, just for today. Still, the curator wished he brought one of his old buddies from university with him today, if only so they could share in his misery. Heck, the stallion even preferred reading the latest conspiracy drivel from that feather-brained Mocking Word than standing around in this Celestia-forsaken queue. Given Spin Tale’s sheer hatred of Mocking Word’s crazed theories, this was saying a lot.

Hearing hoofsteps behind him, Spin Tale briefly glanced behind him out of curiosity to see who the next unfortunate soul to enter the line was. To Dr. Tale’s great surprise it was Professor Ashen Smirk in the flesh, right here outside of Ponyville! Nopony who took a class or two under Prof. Smirk forgot about him. For those students like Spin Tale who succeeded in avoiding the wrath of the professor’s fiery lectures, his one-on-one sessions proved to be rather unsettling and contentious at times. Spin wasn’t sure if he should have counted himself lucky or not for having been one of Prof. Smirk’s verbal sparring partners, but for what it was worth, such debates opened Spin’s intellect to theories and possibilities he never would have taken seriously otherwise. In that sense, Ashen Smirk was a darned fine teacher, and Spin Tale’s experiences with the professor made for many excellent stories to tell.

Back in the present, Spin Tale swiftly turned around upon recognizing the blueish-grey earth pony that used to be his professor. “Professor Smirk!” joyfully shouted the young stallion; “Finally, somepony to share my wretchedness with!” Laughing at his own sarcasm for a second, Dr. Tale then eagerly began to ask the professor questions; “How have your classes gone since I’ve graduated from CU? What are you doing way out here in Ponyville, anyway?” If the young doctor was lucky, Ashen Smirk might eventually get riled up for another debate... which was as good a way as any to banish the monotomy of wasting away in a line.

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor looked left and right as he waited. He felt a bit out of place, being the ONLY griffon in this pack of ponies. Many many ponies of all kinds and ages. Frankly he was feeling a bit exposed.

"I hope no one here knows much on Griffon anatomy. Last thing I was is some wise cracking making jokes on my height." He said to himself, growling and digging his claws into the dirt as he remembers a few things said about his height.

[Trilobite]

"Okay, okay, okay. So Star Storm, you're definitely in, and Master Mustang--can I call you Mustang? You're in too." Parhelion grinned giddily. Bringing home new friends, especially those he could provide hospitality to and show around, always brought a ray of sunshine into his life. As much as he loved the cold northern lands, Cloudsdale would always have a special place in his heart, and sharing its best side with new ponies was one of the greatest joys in life. "We'll have a lot to eat--too much, really, and Mustang, I'll help you avoid my aunts, who are real busy-body matchmakers, and we'll go hit the town with some of my old school friends. There's loads of people who would love to talk to both of you, and I really, really think you'll like the flight school I went to--they help ponies like me who have more than the usual difficulties with flying, for whatever reason. Oh! Maybe Master Mustang can give a demonstration of his art? That would be awesome!"

The gray pegasus was getting a little carried away, and had nearly forgotten the fact that he was standing in line. His mother, as usual, had been right. Coming here had been a great idea!