Post by Luna on Dec 6, 2014 4:43:23 GMT -5
Sweet Apple Acres
O` O` O` O` O` O` === SWEET APPLE ACRES === O` O` O` O` O` O`
Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres! Located just outside of Ponyville, this prosperous farm features an expansive apple orchard, a field for wheat and other secondary crops, and an assortment of buildings including an impressive red farmhouse, a barn, a hog house, and a recently refurbished clubhouse. It's a relaxing environment with plenty of rolling green hills, country breezes, and open sky. Depending on the season, you may encounter workers (typically Applejack and her brother Big Mac) tilling the land, planting seeds, setting out baskets, bucking apples, tending to damaged trees, or any number of other farm related tasks. If you wander through the trees, you may stumble upon an apple cart or garden arch, hear the yapping of the farmdog or the creak of old Granny Smith's rocker, or even find yourself on a path up into the curvaceous tree-studded hills.
This is where the countryside begins. We hope you like it here.
Luna moves in the stillness of the night, bathed in shadows, surrounded by shadows. She walks slowly across the fields from the orchard towards the barn, and with every hoofstep snowflakes rise from inside the ground, dancing in slow orbits around her body. She is slow moving, dignified, dark, and as silent as the midnight sky. The portal through which she suddenly sucks Diamond Dancer, on the other hoof, wooshes and gurgles loudly, flashes like a lightning bolt, and drops Diamond Dancer right in front of Luna's hooves. "Night's Errant, attend!" It's not the Royal Canterlot Voice, but there's definitely magical resonance in that greeting.
Diamond_Dancer is somewhat, shall we say, less graceful and certainly far from dignified. She crashes face first into the ground at Luna's hooves in a heap. " Well, at least it's an easy commute to work..." She mumbles, before Princess Luna speaks; and shes up on her hooves in a second with a sharp salute. "Yes you'se blackness! Night's Errant at you'se soyvice!"
Luna extends her wings, and the snowflakes around her fly out in a cloud, only to swirl back to circle around her closely, or even rest on her hide like a silver frost. None of them seem inclined to melt. Phosphorescent bluegreen eyes look down at the squat little foal, and with a faint twist of a smile she agrees, "Thou art *indeed* at my service. I have need of thy bravery, thy loyalty, and thy indomitable resistance to physical harm tonight, Night's Errant. Winter has reached a blocking point. We must clear it ere the ponies of the day notice."
Diamond_Dancer's lips twist into a warm smile at the princess's praise, but she's still in 'serious' mode, despite her cheerfulness. "Clear da wintah block before da day ponies notice! Yes you'se midnightness, I'll do my best! How do we clear it?!
Calbee has arrived.
Away from the rime summoned by the Princess, the trees - their leaves a chromatic cacophany of colors, but still all attached - are silent in the sharp late-Fall chill. Over at the farmhouse, a dim light appears in a window, as of a light across a hallway in another room.
Luna's smile is definitely starting to resemble a smirk. She starts walking towards the barn, gesturing towards it with a huge blue princess wing. "We roust it from its lair, run it down, hold it in place, and smash it - all without allowing it to set fire to anything or harm any ponies. Until we do this, the spirits of frost will not take their place in Sweet Apple Acres, and this orchard is the beating heart of central Equestria's living magic."
Diamond_Dancer trots along instantly behind Princess Luna- like a puppy. She tries to imitate the princess's regal steps with her own, but it's a bit difficult to do so when you can't quite feel your legs so she stumbles. A lot. "Ok, roust, run down, hold, and smash! I'm really good at two of those!"
Luna nods, her smile unwavering now. She watches Diamond trot with what looks like an actual expression of affection. The Princess of the Night stops several pony-lengths from the barn, and with a flick of her horn pulls the doors open. That horn lowers to point. "There. See thou, Star Seeker? The Element of Honesty maintains a small forge within her farm. Our quarry lurks in the ashes. I can approach no closer without waking it. With all thy stealth, lift it from the forge and bring it out of the barn to me."
The beating heart of Equestria's living magic remains silent. Upstairs, the snores of the ponies who would be rather surprised to hear their home called that drone on.
Diamond_Dancer Stealth. Yeeeeeah. Sure. Thats something Diamond is widely known for, a bit like asking a bomb to explode quietly but Diamond is determined to assist the princess however possible; her loyalty knows no bounds. So the little filly crouches down and takes a deep breath, and begins to inch her way towards the barn. "Stealth stealth stealth stealth..." She murmurs quietly like a mantra. Maybe it will help. Maybe.
"Stealth, yes!" chimes in another pony helpfully, if too grandiose and loud for the occasion, or indeed the word stealth. Where she came from, what she is doing here, and a host of other very important questions remain quite thankfully unanswered. She waves a hoof imperiously at Diamond Dancer. "Yes, just like that!" the Great and Powerful Trixie encourages. She is doing *such* a good job!
Luna true to her word remains behind, an ice-covered statue, its life betrayed by the slight movements of her glowing aquamarine eyes. Inside the barn - just inside, to reduce the danger of burning the place down - is Diamond Dancer's target, the forge. It's basically a brick cauldron full of charcoal with a similar brick roof overhead. At Trixie's yell, the coals rustle, and hints of orange begin to creep through.
Plink. A light flicks on upstairs. Anyone inside the barn being Stealthy(tm) probably won't see it, though. You're doing a fine job.
Diamond_Dancer Diamond's fur heckles and the little filly freezes in place when she hears the sudden proclamation of stealth. Something seems off about that in an ironic sort of way, but Diamond doesn't know what ironic means, so she keeps sneaking on as best as she can. "Ok time to make da princess proud! Glowy eyes, activate!" She hisses. Nothing happens, of course, and Diamond gives a little sigh. Of course. She takes a moment, and smacks the side of her head with a hoof. Then again. Then a third time before her left eye illuminates brightly - and only her left eye. "...Sure ok, Cyclops power, go!" she whispers. There, she totally did that on purpose. She creeps into the barn and eyes the rustling coals with her glowing eye. "Ok. No problem. Roust, Run down....what was the next part? Ahh Ponyfeddahs. Ok new plan. Pounce!" And so she does, springing towards the coals like a cat!"
Oblivious to much of the goings-on, and her part in ensuring that the goings-on become goings-wrong, Trixie nods and smiles in self-satisfaction. "Things are proceeding well, Your Highness," she whispers (yes, NOW she whispers), voice oozing with ingratiation and well-honed levels of toadying. A feather quill and parchment scroll poof into existence via magic, and she makes check marks upon it to look busy and important.
Any other pony doing what Diamond just did would now be spitted barbecue. Out of the forge shoots a ball of fire, or at least a glowing hot mass of nails, horseshoes, and bolts about the size of a hoof, all melted together. It looks kind of like a very angry, incindiary sea urchin. It's also wrapped up in Diamond Dancer, and instead of shooting up to hit the roof of the barn, it bounces out of the forge, pulling and tugging at the tiny filly. Until now, Luna has been calm, almost motionless, answering Trixie with a soft, "It is, indeed." When Diamond and the little iron monster clear the barn door, though, Luna leaps! Like a cannonball herself, she flies past Diamond, landing in the doorway of the barn. The thud of her impact sprays ice, and Diamond's metal tormenter rolls desperately away. "CATCH IT! HOLD IT! I SHALL HEM IT IN, AND KEEP IT FROM BURNING HOUSE OR TREES!"
THAT does it for good and proper! Several lights flick on upstairs, a window shoots open, and Applejack's sleepy, irritated voice is clearly audible: "What in tarnation is goin' ON out he-" She catches sight of the shenanigans, but right now all she can see is that the barn has several ponies in it, none of them are family, and there is fire! "OH CELESTIA - FIRE!!" she yells, and dives back inside!
"No, it's the *other* princess!" Trixie yells back at the orange one. She's so helpful today!
Diamond_Dancer is on the case! She immediately tries to pounce for the little angry iron thing, having been shaking off before hand. But this time- this time's she's dead on! She wraps both her hooves around the metal ball, and squeals in success. "GOT IT!" She shrieks. The sprite however, does not seem to like being 'got.' It struggles for a moment, before the iron ball zooms towards Diamond's muzzle, starting an impromtu game of "Stop hitting yourself." Each blow rings a clash of iron through out the barn, and Diamond's eyes flicker wildly. Left eye, right eye, both eyes; it's like a rave in her head!
Luna cups her wingtips around her mouth, and yells at DD encouraging, "Excellent! Hold it just a bit longer! Lullabye Moon!" One of Luna's wings swishes like she's just slapped a pony's plot, and a loud 'smack' echoes from Trixie's backside. "Do not STAND there, filly! Ice! SMASH IT WITH ICE!"
The farmhouse door SLAMS open and Applejack rushes out, clad in her fireproof boots (and hat, of course, ALWAYS the hat) and runs straight for the disturbance, a bucket of water in her teeth! She doesn't even have time to register who the intruders are before flinging the water directly at the source of the most light and commotion - i.e. Diamond Dancer's head. "FI-" she starts to yell, letting the bucket drop, but at that moment slams into Trixie, slips on her cape, flips over her, and skids to a stop several feet away at Luna's hooves! She stares up in shock, waiting for her eyes to line up properly again.
Hooves sliding in the snow from the magical smack on the plot, the Great and Powerful Trixie slippy-slides a bit as she heads toward the thing doing the thing that she should apparently be helping to catch. "Trixie's got it! Trixie's got it!" she assures. Magic swirls about her horn and a large white box-like object appears in midair, the smaller of its two doors swinging open and dumping a large solid block of ice out with a THUD. She lifts *that* instead, and tosses the strange appliance away.
At heart, the little fire sprite had always wanted to be a composer and now it's finally getting it's chance. CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG, a beautiful tune with compliments from Diamond's skull- and a light show to go with it. The water splashed over the filly, and the snow and slippery ice, and the severe head trauma might be enough to make a normal pony release the little metal ball of suffering- but not Diamond. No. That only happens when she is cartoonishly crushed under a massive block of ice that suddenly materializes over head. But did the sprite get caught too?!
Calbee was already in the area when his hearing picks up the sound of fire, and then soon spots what looks like a fire in the distance, as he curses, wondering if he should head back to the station or continue on, but seeing others already at the location he decides to head there first and find out just what is going on.
Luna watches the pitched battle with her body low, her wings spread, and her hooves wide, a barrier of frost and darkness between the fire and the vulnerable wood of the Apple Family homestead. As Applejack slides up, Luna tells her, "Thy timing is perfect, Element of Harmony! We need an object to contain a creature of pure fire. An empty lantern, perhaps. Grab it swiftly, and when the iron shell breaks, capture the escaping salamander!" These terse instructions delivered, she ups the volume to Royal Canterlot levels. "HIT IT, Lullabye Moon! Thou must plunge it into cold and strike it hard at the same time. Break the metal, as thou would release the jelly from thy beloved doughnuts!"
"BWUAH!" Trixie opines as something orange and apple-y collides with her, taking the orange one off her hooves and driving Trixie's face into the ground. Head popping up, her magic lashes out, stopping the block of ice juuuust above Diamond Dancer's head, close enough to bonk but not flatten. "Hup!" As if on elastic, the ice block pulls back, around in an elegant curve and down like a sledgehammer up on the little ball of iron and magical fire. "Smash!" So rarely do ponies actually encourage her to smash things, she's not going to disappoint.
Applejack, eloquent and erudite as always, says, "Huh??" - then she shakes her head out and focuses. "Go do... whuh... PRINCESS LUNA!? What in tarnation are ya doin' here... again!?" but the urgency in Her Highness' voice gets through and AJ hops to her hooves. "Somethin' ta... contain fire? Oh!" She runs into the barn, and grabs an empty lantern, but on her way out steps on Trixie's iceblock and slips! "WHOOOOA NELLY!" - the lantern goes flying and smashes against a tree! "Aw horseapples...!"
Frozen water hits red hot iron with a fierce blow. The iron does what iron does under those circumstances - it snaps, shattering like glass, in yet another example of why any other pony but Diamond would be dead if they had her job. Out of it rises a flame, hardly bigger than from a lit candle. It shivers in the cold winter air, twisting, and for ponies very up close, looks like a dancing lizard, or perhaps a *very* gracefully fluid pony.
Water head trama, exploding metal fire sprite to the face- all typcial Diamond. She crashes backwards in the snow, and lies there for a few minutes. "Whelp. Could be worse. I could be eaten by dat dragon again. Hmm...dats comparable, actually." She muses to herself, before she climbs to her hooves. Ok. This time, she's gonna catch it without the rave party in her head. She pounces once again, hoping to wrap her hooves around the thing...
Calbee looks around as he comes in for a landing near the others, so wrapped up in finding out the situation, he doesn't even think about doing a Diamond and lands on all fours as he calls out, "Where the fire?" he asks, seeing no majour fires, thugh he does spot the lizard flame thingie looking around a bit confused.
Luna's eyes blaze, beacons of white light. As Diamond leaps she's smacked down - hard. Very, VERY hard, hard enough to drive her whole body into the ground. Her voice rasping as she tries to both yell and whisper at the same time, Luna admonishes, "GENTLY, Star Seeker! It is fragile now, and I would take it to Fluttershy if I can! I shall keep it from escaping. Daughter, block out the wind. Applejack... find something, anything. Contain it, and swiftly!" With that, she transfers her magic to a role more useful than providing an irresistable force against Diamond's immovable object. A huge dome forms over the house and barn and all these ponies, a barrier made of nothing more solid than snowflakes.
"That's it?" the Great and Powerful pony scoffs, not willing or able to disguise how unimpressed she is. Trixie not-quite-frowns at it, but takes a light hoof in seeing it goes unharmed. "Gently..." Mutli-faceted crystalline planes of violet-colored magic bracket the tiny flame, allowing its perilous flicker to calm in the windbreak.
Applejack was actually about to run that way when Luna's barrier slams down over everything and blocks her path! Scrabbling, she reverses and dives into the house! There is a clatter and rattle of objects being hastily rummaged and tossed, and after a moment, a rather muffled "AHA!" AJ appears in the doorway carrying a long object in her mouth - which promptly catches on the frame and stops her, "Urk!" - but she rallies quickly, tilts her head and runs out to present her solution to the Princess' problem: it is an old-timey bedwarmer, a long-handled pan for holding hot coals.
Diamond_Dancer just sort of lays there face down in the snow. "Yes you'se darkness. Gently, you'se darkness." Her muffled voice squeaks. Ooooh Smash the metal ball, not the thing inside of the ball. Sure, she's of the night court, but nopony said Diamond was bright. "Is dis mission a success?" She asks.
Calbee tilts his head as he looks toawrds everyone, spotting Diamond, well thats one mystery hopefully solved, Applejack he knows, the large pony he doesn't know, but the description could be only one pony!!!...cel..oh oif course not has to be Luna, and the other pony he has now clue who she is, so doesn't even hazard a guess as he moves forwrd in his half gear, though only piece of equipment he has with him, if it can even be called that is his fireponies badge that sways probie, or is that firegriffon, though he will have to work that out later as he speaks a little nervously and unsure if he can even do it, but there to help if needed, "Help from ponnyvile fire station #1, any way that I can be oc assistance?" he asks eyeing the
Luna encourages, "Excellent! Excellent! Make me proud, fillies, for thy princess dares not come closer, lest she extinguish the sprite by her mere presence. Catch her. Catch her gently, and the orchard and the winter and an innocent life shall be saved." The tiny living flame has decided that it doesn't *want* to be saved, flaring up to a ferocious *two candle flames tall*, and darts away, only to be pulled up within inches by Trixie's enclosing magical walls. It spins in place, snapping, but 'snapping' rapidly becomes 'flickering' as the fire shrinks. It may be going out.
Applejack is a farmer, a bit of a redneck, and not over-burdened with book learning. A lot of folks think this means she is rather dim. Those folks are very, very wrong. Her head now cleared after those first unfortunate mishaps, AJ sees that the target is shrinking, and realizes there is only one way to save it now. She breaks into a gallop, throws the bedwarmer, dives under Trixie, CATCHES the bedwarmer on the other side, HURDLES Diamond Dancer, and in the space of seconds has scooped coals from the forge into the bedwarmer, along with a few briquettes of unburned charcoal! This she runs with to the fire sprite, then prods it gently with a smouldering briquette held in her fireproof-booted hoof util it catches... and then drops this into the bedwarmer. With a gentle clang, the sprite is contained.
Diamond_Dancer lifts a hoof to assist, pauses, and then sits back on her haunches. Sometimes, the trick is NOT to get involved. Nope, she's just gonna watch. Oh, wait, there IS something she can do! She CAN help! "I wish-" Nothing comes out of her muzzle. No, somewhere deep in her head, a tiny Diamond Dancer wearing a which reading "Common Sense" is wildly mashing the "ABORT SPEECH" Button, leaving the little filly with a vacant look in her eyes.
Luna lets out a gusty sigh. An actual gusty sigh, which blows frigid wind all about the barnyard. Rising to a casual stance, she lauds, "Better than we hoped. Now we need not worry about protective spells until it is delivered." Blue light wraps the handle of the bedwarmer, pulling it gently out of Applejack's grip and floating it over to Trixie. "Deliver this to Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness. She shall know what to do with it. Fail, and I shall wax wroth. Succeed, and thy next task is to take Diamond Dancer and go do something fun on the, as we believe modern ponies say, Royal Bit." The formalities finished, Luna trots over to Applejack with an extended wing. "Be proud of thy actions tonight, Element of Honesty. The frost sprites may take their place now. By the morning they shall be in the soil and in the trees, and thy orchards shall be ready to endure the Winter freezes without harm."
Calbee just stares in confusion at whats going on seeing the acrobatic stunt by Applejack to complain or even really notice that he's been ignored as his beak hangs open, though a small part of him looks at the boots Applejack has and is glad SOMEONE had something here as he just looks around with a mild confusion, remembering to shut his beak a few moments later.
It sure is nice that the frost spirits held off so long this year! Fluttershy should thank them personally. She trot-flaps over the hll with a little basket of goodies in her mouth...which hits the ground promptly as she sees Sweet Apple Acres covered in singe and smoke. "Oh my goodness. What happened here?"
And in the darkness, an elderly mare's voice rings out, "WILL ALL Y'ALL BE QUIET! Can't a pony get some SLEEP 'round these parts..."
O` O` O` O` O` O` === SWEET APPLE ACRES === O` O` O` O` O` O`
Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres! Located just outside of Ponyville, this prosperous farm features an expansive apple orchard, a field for wheat and other secondary crops, and an assortment of buildings including an impressive red farmhouse, a barn, a hog house, and a recently refurbished clubhouse. It's a relaxing environment with plenty of rolling green hills, country breezes, and open sky. Depending on the season, you may encounter workers (typically Applejack and her brother Big Mac) tilling the land, planting seeds, setting out baskets, bucking apples, tending to damaged trees, or any number of other farm related tasks. If you wander through the trees, you may stumble upon an apple cart or garden arch, hear the yapping of the farmdog or the creak of old Granny Smith's rocker, or even find yourself on a path up into the curvaceous tree-studded hills.
This is where the countryside begins. We hope you like it here.
Luna moves in the stillness of the night, bathed in shadows, surrounded by shadows. She walks slowly across the fields from the orchard towards the barn, and with every hoofstep snowflakes rise from inside the ground, dancing in slow orbits around her body. She is slow moving, dignified, dark, and as silent as the midnight sky. The portal through which she suddenly sucks Diamond Dancer, on the other hoof, wooshes and gurgles loudly, flashes like a lightning bolt, and drops Diamond Dancer right in front of Luna's hooves. "Night's Errant, attend!" It's not the Royal Canterlot Voice, but there's definitely magical resonance in that greeting.
Diamond_Dancer is somewhat, shall we say, less graceful and certainly far from dignified. She crashes face first into the ground at Luna's hooves in a heap. " Well, at least it's an easy commute to work..." She mumbles, before Princess Luna speaks; and shes up on her hooves in a second with a sharp salute. "Yes you'se blackness! Night's Errant at you'se soyvice!"
Luna extends her wings, and the snowflakes around her fly out in a cloud, only to swirl back to circle around her closely, or even rest on her hide like a silver frost. None of them seem inclined to melt. Phosphorescent bluegreen eyes look down at the squat little foal, and with a faint twist of a smile she agrees, "Thou art *indeed* at my service. I have need of thy bravery, thy loyalty, and thy indomitable resistance to physical harm tonight, Night's Errant. Winter has reached a blocking point. We must clear it ere the ponies of the day notice."
Diamond_Dancer's lips twist into a warm smile at the princess's praise, but she's still in 'serious' mode, despite her cheerfulness. "Clear da wintah block before da day ponies notice! Yes you'se midnightness, I'll do my best! How do we clear it?!
Calbee has arrived.
Away from the rime summoned by the Princess, the trees - their leaves a chromatic cacophany of colors, but still all attached - are silent in the sharp late-Fall chill. Over at the farmhouse, a dim light appears in a window, as of a light across a hallway in another room.
Luna's smile is definitely starting to resemble a smirk. She starts walking towards the barn, gesturing towards it with a huge blue princess wing. "We roust it from its lair, run it down, hold it in place, and smash it - all without allowing it to set fire to anything or harm any ponies. Until we do this, the spirits of frost will not take their place in Sweet Apple Acres, and this orchard is the beating heart of central Equestria's living magic."
Diamond_Dancer trots along instantly behind Princess Luna- like a puppy. She tries to imitate the princess's regal steps with her own, but it's a bit difficult to do so when you can't quite feel your legs so she stumbles. A lot. "Ok, roust, run down, hold, and smash! I'm really good at two of those!"
Luna nods, her smile unwavering now. She watches Diamond trot with what looks like an actual expression of affection. The Princess of the Night stops several pony-lengths from the barn, and with a flick of her horn pulls the doors open. That horn lowers to point. "There. See thou, Star Seeker? The Element of Honesty maintains a small forge within her farm. Our quarry lurks in the ashes. I can approach no closer without waking it. With all thy stealth, lift it from the forge and bring it out of the barn to me."
The beating heart of Equestria's living magic remains silent. Upstairs, the snores of the ponies who would be rather surprised to hear their home called that drone on.
Diamond_Dancer Stealth. Yeeeeeah. Sure. Thats something Diamond is widely known for, a bit like asking a bomb to explode quietly but Diamond is determined to assist the princess however possible; her loyalty knows no bounds. So the little filly crouches down and takes a deep breath, and begins to inch her way towards the barn. "Stealth stealth stealth stealth..." She murmurs quietly like a mantra. Maybe it will help. Maybe.
"Stealth, yes!" chimes in another pony helpfully, if too grandiose and loud for the occasion, or indeed the word stealth. Where she came from, what she is doing here, and a host of other very important questions remain quite thankfully unanswered. She waves a hoof imperiously at Diamond Dancer. "Yes, just like that!" the Great and Powerful Trixie encourages. She is doing *such* a good job!
Luna true to her word remains behind, an ice-covered statue, its life betrayed by the slight movements of her glowing aquamarine eyes. Inside the barn - just inside, to reduce the danger of burning the place down - is Diamond Dancer's target, the forge. It's basically a brick cauldron full of charcoal with a similar brick roof overhead. At Trixie's yell, the coals rustle, and hints of orange begin to creep through.
Plink. A light flicks on upstairs. Anyone inside the barn being Stealthy(tm) probably won't see it, though. You're doing a fine job.
Diamond_Dancer Diamond's fur heckles and the little filly freezes in place when she hears the sudden proclamation of stealth. Something seems off about that in an ironic sort of way, but Diamond doesn't know what ironic means, so she keeps sneaking on as best as she can. "Ok time to make da princess proud! Glowy eyes, activate!" She hisses. Nothing happens, of course, and Diamond gives a little sigh. Of course. She takes a moment, and smacks the side of her head with a hoof. Then again. Then a third time before her left eye illuminates brightly - and only her left eye. "...Sure ok, Cyclops power, go!" she whispers. There, she totally did that on purpose. She creeps into the barn and eyes the rustling coals with her glowing eye. "Ok. No problem. Roust, Run down....what was the next part? Ahh Ponyfeddahs. Ok new plan. Pounce!" And so she does, springing towards the coals like a cat!"
Oblivious to much of the goings-on, and her part in ensuring that the goings-on become goings-wrong, Trixie nods and smiles in self-satisfaction. "Things are proceeding well, Your Highness," she whispers (yes, NOW she whispers), voice oozing with ingratiation and well-honed levels of toadying. A feather quill and parchment scroll poof into existence via magic, and she makes check marks upon it to look busy and important.
Any other pony doing what Diamond just did would now be spitted barbecue. Out of the forge shoots a ball of fire, or at least a glowing hot mass of nails, horseshoes, and bolts about the size of a hoof, all melted together. It looks kind of like a very angry, incindiary sea urchin. It's also wrapped up in Diamond Dancer, and instead of shooting up to hit the roof of the barn, it bounces out of the forge, pulling and tugging at the tiny filly. Until now, Luna has been calm, almost motionless, answering Trixie with a soft, "It is, indeed." When Diamond and the little iron monster clear the barn door, though, Luna leaps! Like a cannonball herself, she flies past Diamond, landing in the doorway of the barn. The thud of her impact sprays ice, and Diamond's metal tormenter rolls desperately away. "CATCH IT! HOLD IT! I SHALL HEM IT IN, AND KEEP IT FROM BURNING HOUSE OR TREES!"
THAT does it for good and proper! Several lights flick on upstairs, a window shoots open, and Applejack's sleepy, irritated voice is clearly audible: "What in tarnation is goin' ON out he-" She catches sight of the shenanigans, but right now all she can see is that the barn has several ponies in it, none of them are family, and there is fire! "OH CELESTIA - FIRE!!" she yells, and dives back inside!
"No, it's the *other* princess!" Trixie yells back at the orange one. She's so helpful today!
Diamond_Dancer is on the case! She immediately tries to pounce for the little angry iron thing, having been shaking off before hand. But this time- this time's she's dead on! She wraps both her hooves around the metal ball, and squeals in success. "GOT IT!" She shrieks. The sprite however, does not seem to like being 'got.' It struggles for a moment, before the iron ball zooms towards Diamond's muzzle, starting an impromtu game of "Stop hitting yourself." Each blow rings a clash of iron through out the barn, and Diamond's eyes flicker wildly. Left eye, right eye, both eyes; it's like a rave in her head!
Luna cups her wingtips around her mouth, and yells at DD encouraging, "Excellent! Hold it just a bit longer! Lullabye Moon!" One of Luna's wings swishes like she's just slapped a pony's plot, and a loud 'smack' echoes from Trixie's backside. "Do not STAND there, filly! Ice! SMASH IT WITH ICE!"
The farmhouse door SLAMS open and Applejack rushes out, clad in her fireproof boots (and hat, of course, ALWAYS the hat) and runs straight for the disturbance, a bucket of water in her teeth! She doesn't even have time to register who the intruders are before flinging the water directly at the source of the most light and commotion - i.e. Diamond Dancer's head. "FI-" she starts to yell, letting the bucket drop, but at that moment slams into Trixie, slips on her cape, flips over her, and skids to a stop several feet away at Luna's hooves! She stares up in shock, waiting for her eyes to line up properly again.
Hooves sliding in the snow from the magical smack on the plot, the Great and Powerful Trixie slippy-slides a bit as she heads toward the thing doing the thing that she should apparently be helping to catch. "Trixie's got it! Trixie's got it!" she assures. Magic swirls about her horn and a large white box-like object appears in midair, the smaller of its two doors swinging open and dumping a large solid block of ice out with a THUD. She lifts *that* instead, and tosses the strange appliance away.
At heart, the little fire sprite had always wanted to be a composer and now it's finally getting it's chance. CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG, a beautiful tune with compliments from Diamond's skull- and a light show to go with it. The water splashed over the filly, and the snow and slippery ice, and the severe head trauma might be enough to make a normal pony release the little metal ball of suffering- but not Diamond. No. That only happens when she is cartoonishly crushed under a massive block of ice that suddenly materializes over head. But did the sprite get caught too?!
Calbee was already in the area when his hearing picks up the sound of fire, and then soon spots what looks like a fire in the distance, as he curses, wondering if he should head back to the station or continue on, but seeing others already at the location he decides to head there first and find out just what is going on.
Luna watches the pitched battle with her body low, her wings spread, and her hooves wide, a barrier of frost and darkness between the fire and the vulnerable wood of the Apple Family homestead. As Applejack slides up, Luna tells her, "Thy timing is perfect, Element of Harmony! We need an object to contain a creature of pure fire. An empty lantern, perhaps. Grab it swiftly, and when the iron shell breaks, capture the escaping salamander!" These terse instructions delivered, she ups the volume to Royal Canterlot levels. "HIT IT, Lullabye Moon! Thou must plunge it into cold and strike it hard at the same time. Break the metal, as thou would release the jelly from thy beloved doughnuts!"
"BWUAH!" Trixie opines as something orange and apple-y collides with her, taking the orange one off her hooves and driving Trixie's face into the ground. Head popping up, her magic lashes out, stopping the block of ice juuuust above Diamond Dancer's head, close enough to bonk but not flatten. "Hup!" As if on elastic, the ice block pulls back, around in an elegant curve and down like a sledgehammer up on the little ball of iron and magical fire. "Smash!" So rarely do ponies actually encourage her to smash things, she's not going to disappoint.
Applejack, eloquent and erudite as always, says, "Huh??" - then she shakes her head out and focuses. "Go do... whuh... PRINCESS LUNA!? What in tarnation are ya doin' here... again!?" but the urgency in Her Highness' voice gets through and AJ hops to her hooves. "Somethin' ta... contain fire? Oh!" She runs into the barn, and grabs an empty lantern, but on her way out steps on Trixie's iceblock and slips! "WHOOOOA NELLY!" - the lantern goes flying and smashes against a tree! "Aw horseapples...!"
Frozen water hits red hot iron with a fierce blow. The iron does what iron does under those circumstances - it snaps, shattering like glass, in yet another example of why any other pony but Diamond would be dead if they had her job. Out of it rises a flame, hardly bigger than from a lit candle. It shivers in the cold winter air, twisting, and for ponies very up close, looks like a dancing lizard, or perhaps a *very* gracefully fluid pony.
Water head trama, exploding metal fire sprite to the face- all typcial Diamond. She crashes backwards in the snow, and lies there for a few minutes. "Whelp. Could be worse. I could be eaten by dat dragon again. Hmm...dats comparable, actually." She muses to herself, before she climbs to her hooves. Ok. This time, she's gonna catch it without the rave party in her head. She pounces once again, hoping to wrap her hooves around the thing...
Calbee looks around as he comes in for a landing near the others, so wrapped up in finding out the situation, he doesn't even think about doing a Diamond and lands on all fours as he calls out, "Where the fire?" he asks, seeing no majour fires, thugh he does spot the lizard flame thingie looking around a bit confused.
Luna's eyes blaze, beacons of white light. As Diamond leaps she's smacked down - hard. Very, VERY hard, hard enough to drive her whole body into the ground. Her voice rasping as she tries to both yell and whisper at the same time, Luna admonishes, "GENTLY, Star Seeker! It is fragile now, and I would take it to Fluttershy if I can! I shall keep it from escaping. Daughter, block out the wind. Applejack... find something, anything. Contain it, and swiftly!" With that, she transfers her magic to a role more useful than providing an irresistable force against Diamond's immovable object. A huge dome forms over the house and barn and all these ponies, a barrier made of nothing more solid than snowflakes.
"That's it?" the Great and Powerful pony scoffs, not willing or able to disguise how unimpressed she is. Trixie not-quite-frowns at it, but takes a light hoof in seeing it goes unharmed. "Gently..." Mutli-faceted crystalline planes of violet-colored magic bracket the tiny flame, allowing its perilous flicker to calm in the windbreak.
Applejack was actually about to run that way when Luna's barrier slams down over everything and blocks her path! Scrabbling, she reverses and dives into the house! There is a clatter and rattle of objects being hastily rummaged and tossed, and after a moment, a rather muffled "AHA!" AJ appears in the doorway carrying a long object in her mouth - which promptly catches on the frame and stops her, "Urk!" - but she rallies quickly, tilts her head and runs out to present her solution to the Princess' problem: it is an old-timey bedwarmer, a long-handled pan for holding hot coals.
Diamond_Dancer just sort of lays there face down in the snow. "Yes you'se darkness. Gently, you'se darkness." Her muffled voice squeaks. Ooooh Smash the metal ball, not the thing inside of the ball. Sure, she's of the night court, but nopony said Diamond was bright. "Is dis mission a success?" She asks.
Calbee tilts his head as he looks toawrds everyone, spotting Diamond, well thats one mystery hopefully solved, Applejack he knows, the large pony he doesn't know, but the description could be only one pony!!!...cel..oh oif course not has to be Luna, and the other pony he has now clue who she is, so doesn't even hazard a guess as he moves forwrd in his half gear, though only piece of equipment he has with him, if it can even be called that is his fireponies badge that sways probie, or is that firegriffon, though he will have to work that out later as he speaks a little nervously and unsure if he can even do it, but there to help if needed, "Help from ponnyvile fire station #1, any way that I can be oc assistance?" he asks eyeing the
Luna encourages, "Excellent! Excellent! Make me proud, fillies, for thy princess dares not come closer, lest she extinguish the sprite by her mere presence. Catch her. Catch her gently, and the orchard and the winter and an innocent life shall be saved." The tiny living flame has decided that it doesn't *want* to be saved, flaring up to a ferocious *two candle flames tall*, and darts away, only to be pulled up within inches by Trixie's enclosing magical walls. It spins in place, snapping, but 'snapping' rapidly becomes 'flickering' as the fire shrinks. It may be going out.
Applejack is a farmer, a bit of a redneck, and not over-burdened with book learning. A lot of folks think this means she is rather dim. Those folks are very, very wrong. Her head now cleared after those first unfortunate mishaps, AJ sees that the target is shrinking, and realizes there is only one way to save it now. She breaks into a gallop, throws the bedwarmer, dives under Trixie, CATCHES the bedwarmer on the other side, HURDLES Diamond Dancer, and in the space of seconds has scooped coals from the forge into the bedwarmer, along with a few briquettes of unburned charcoal! This she runs with to the fire sprite, then prods it gently with a smouldering briquette held in her fireproof-booted hoof util it catches... and then drops this into the bedwarmer. With a gentle clang, the sprite is contained.
Diamond_Dancer lifts a hoof to assist, pauses, and then sits back on her haunches. Sometimes, the trick is NOT to get involved. Nope, she's just gonna watch. Oh, wait, there IS something she can do! She CAN help! "I wish-" Nothing comes out of her muzzle. No, somewhere deep in her head, a tiny Diamond Dancer wearing a which reading "Common Sense" is wildly mashing the "ABORT SPEECH" Button, leaving the little filly with a vacant look in her eyes.
Luna lets out a gusty sigh. An actual gusty sigh, which blows frigid wind all about the barnyard. Rising to a casual stance, she lauds, "Better than we hoped. Now we need not worry about protective spells until it is delivered." Blue light wraps the handle of the bedwarmer, pulling it gently out of Applejack's grip and floating it over to Trixie. "Deliver this to Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness. She shall know what to do with it. Fail, and I shall wax wroth. Succeed, and thy next task is to take Diamond Dancer and go do something fun on the, as we believe modern ponies say, Royal Bit." The formalities finished, Luna trots over to Applejack with an extended wing. "Be proud of thy actions tonight, Element of Honesty. The frost sprites may take their place now. By the morning they shall be in the soil and in the trees, and thy orchards shall be ready to endure the Winter freezes without harm."
Calbee just stares in confusion at whats going on seeing the acrobatic stunt by Applejack to complain or even really notice that he's been ignored as his beak hangs open, though a small part of him looks at the boots Applejack has and is glad SOMEONE had something here as he just looks around with a mild confusion, remembering to shut his beak a few moments later.
It sure is nice that the frost spirits held off so long this year! Fluttershy should thank them personally. She trot-flaps over the hll with a little basket of goodies in her mouth...which hits the ground promptly as she sees Sweet Apple Acres covered in singe and smoke. "Oh my goodness. What happened here?"
And in the darkness, an elderly mare's voice rings out, "WILL ALL Y'ALL BE QUIET! Can't a pony get some SLEEP 'round these parts..."