SummerHaven

@Pr0m4NV14 @Victoria Sponge Summer felt her knees become weak with so many ponies watching the three of them. She knew her voice was going to sound weak as she spoke. “If I may your highness,” She said as she gave a slight bow. “Could we call in the ponies that work in the engine room on the train? They should be able to vouch for Mike as they were the ones directly rescued by him.”

@Raven Rawne "Not to worry, he's going back to Vanhoover with me." Summer said as she stuffed the squirrel into her bag. "Now stay in there ok? I'll tell you when its safe to come out." She said to her bag. She knew she probably looked pretty goofy, but her pet must remain hidden. "Its totally fine!" Frenzy exclaimed. "Your squirrel has nice stealth skills, I must say! i hardly saw him coming." She said laughing at the strange turn of events. Summer pulled out her boarding pass once again. "Now I wonder where I'm supposed to sit." She scanned the ticket and giggled nervously. "Looks like my seat is actually right across from you two...I promise we won't have any more incidents." She said as she gently pushed her belongings under the seat and sat down. "I'm not too worried." Frenzy said and her attention returned to the spell scroll. As the final passengers filtered in and began to take their seats, the boarding assistants began going over safety procedures. Summer had seen them a million times, but quietly paid attention anyway. After the quick presentation, the engine let out a loud roar before shoving off down the track. Summer glanced at the scroll that had Frenzy's attention. She debated whether or not to say anything. she didn't want to cause any more annoyances, but eventually her curiosity got the better of her. "I couldn't help but notice, is that...an anesthetic spell?" Summer said quietly, as to not disturb the other passengers. Frenzy perked up a bit at the green unicorn's interest. "Yep! Not sure how much we are suppose to reveal about our trip...but we need to learn this pretty quickly. It will likely come in handy with our..uh...mission." "Sounds like a very specific mission." Summer said smiling. "I won't prod, but I can help you with the spell if you'd like. It's not quite as intimidating as the scroll makes it look." "That would be great! Thank you so much!" Frenzy said, excited to learn a new spell.

@Victoria Sponge @Pr0m4NV14 "Princess Candence? I didn't know she lived here." Summer listened to Victoria's explanation. She was bit worried in that she had no idea how the princess would react to their story. "Hopefully she will understand that this was just a big misunderstanding." Summer prodded at the ground, nervously waiting to see what Cadence was going to do with Mike.

@Raven Rawne Frenzy happily trotted over to the boarding platform. The massive train sped by causing a swift breeze to send the unicorns' hair flying backwards. As their turn in line approached, Frenzy handed over her ticket to the pony who was assisting with the boarding. He stamped the ticket and moved onto the next one in line. Once inside Frenzy was wide eyed and impressed with how much bigger it seemed on the inside. Even though it had just a few cars, it seemed that this train could comfortably carry a large crowd. Frenzy followed Clarity to their assigned seats. They were seated towards the middle of the car, meaning there was a larger table and whoever they were sitting with, would be facing across from the duo, sharing their large table. Clarity looked excited about the possibility of a window seat, and who was she to stand in her way? "Go for it! I'm doubt I'll be able to sleep anyway, so there's no point in really having a leaning surface." Frenzy said with a slight giggle. She pulled out a soda, before tossing her own bags into the overhead compartment. "Actually I think I'll have a look at this spell scroll they gave us." She pulled it out of her bag with her magic and then sat down. She glanced at the ponies in the isle piling into the train cars. "Looks like we have a bit to wait for everypony to get on board anyways." _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A teal and yellow unicorn by the name of Summer Haven was making her way through the massive crowds at the Canterlot train station. She shuffled her way into line and waited for her turn to hand off her ticket. "There sure is a lot of ponies her today huh Snickers? It looks like its completely booked." She said to the squirrel on her head, to which it chirped in agreement. Summer struggled a bit under the weight of her bags. She couldn't wait to get on board so she could sleep on the ride back to Vanhoover. One by one the ponies in front of her had their tickets stamped and disappeared behind the doors. "Your ticket please?" Said a friendly voice. Summer approached the ticket master and he stamped her ticket. "Thank you very much-" Suddenly the squirrel jumped off her head and took off down the isles. Summer quickly grabbed her ticket and followed. It effortlessly weaved in and out between the other passengers until it stopped in the middle and stared up at a two unicorns who had just finished putting their things in the overhead compartment. One was purple with a white mane and was dressed in an adventuring outfit. The other was yellow with a blue mane and tail. Summer managed to catch up and snatch the squirrel with her magic just before he was able to steal the yellow unicorn's soda. "I am SO sorry about that you guys. He gets so excited when he hears any form of can opening. He thinks its all food for him." Summer shifted awkwardly, since she was embarrassed at what her pet had done. She felt her face turn pink, and she set the squirrel back down on her head.

@Pr0m4NV14 @Victoria Sponge "Mike you're here!" Summer was relieved that they had successfully found Mike. Summer looked around and saw the rogue bandit trying to escape from the two guards that were restraining him. "Looks like we got here just in time. Whats going on?" Summer scanned the room which appeared to be a court room. "Did-did they think you were with them?" Summer asked confused.

This was my first attempt of making a pony sculpture! It was made using teal and light yellow sculpey clay (sorry I don’t know the actually color names) and features hand painted eyes and cutie marks. Though there’s a few things I wish I’d done differently I’m pretty happy with how it turned out! First WIP pic Pre-fire best angle XD alternate views The Oc in question: (I purposely left out the stripe in the hair because it was obnoxious and I figured I would mess it up)

Gotta go with Lilo and Stitch. It’s one of my all time favorite Disney movies!

Starlight drinks another cider! 19

Go starlight go! Starlight drinks cider # 18

@Victoria Sponge @Pr0m4NV14 Summer waited for the guard to leave before she looked at Victoria and said in a puzzled voice, “Did...did he just say palace? Why would they take him there?” Summer tried to wipe the puzzled expression off her face. “At any rate, we better hurry. They got a pretty good head start on us and we don’t want anything bad to happen!” Summer took off in the direction the guard pointed. She winced at the pain in her leg, but tried to ignore it to the best of her ability. Snickers was clinging onto her horn as she ran.

@Raven Rawne Frenzy was relieved she had made it on time. Her eyes darted to Clarity’s attire, which she just now had taken notice of. “Hey nice hat!” She said smiling. “And yes, without this ticket I never would have found the terminal.” Frenzy said with a nervous laugh. Frenzy pulled her luggage off her back and let it slide down onto the bench. She began rechecking everything to make sure it was all there. “Well to be honest I’m kind of in the same boat. I hadn’t realized until now but, I don’t leave Canterlot that often. I’ve had a few family trips here and there as a filly, but aside from that...” The yellow unicorn frowned as she was thinking about her lack of traveling experience. “Hmm Maybe that’s why I’m so excited to finally get to see some other places!” Frenzy’s eyes lit up just thinking about it. “This will be a great experience for sure.” Suddenly a loud voice erupted from the intercom: “All passengers for the train to Vanhoover may now begin boarding. Please have your tickets ready for the boarding attendant.” The giant light-up board at the center of the station updated itself to reveal that the next train for boarding was the one to Vanhoover. “Hey! Looks like that’s us!” Frenzy jumped off the bench excitedly and dropped the luggage back onto her back. She grabbed her ticket out with her mouth so she wouldn’t loose it. She waited for Clarity to gather her bags before they could begin making their way to the boarding area. “Need thum help?” Frenzy asked with the ticket still in her mouth. She tried her best to contain her excitement.

@Victoria Sponge @Pr0m4NV14 Summer followed the guard pony who seemed to be leading them further into the city. The Crystal Empire was absolutely gorgeous. The streets and some of the buildings seemed to made made from, unsurprisingly, crystal. They all had exquisite detail and yet we’re still able to be functional. Summer was sad that she didn’t have time to admire the them due to the circumstances. Unsatisfied with the guard’s leisurely pace, and general lack of concern for their situation, Summer decided she ought to say something. “Umm...excuse me sir. We appreciate you helping and all but, we are kind of in a hurry. If you want you could point us in the right direction and we can take if from here?” Summer offered modestly.

@Raven Rawne Frenzy Bolt charged down the streets of Canterlot for the second time that day. This time she made for the direction of the train station. Upon arriving she remembered that, unsurprisingly, it was huge and had a ton of boarding platforms. There was a bunch of ponies shuffling about with bags and papers trying to find their way around. Frenzy made her way past the groups of rushing ponies and dug through her bag until she found her own boarding pass. She had walked by the station many times on her way to work but didn’t ever go inside. Since she didn’t frequent the station often, she figured she should ask somepony where to go. Frenzy approached the pony behind the counter and showed him her boarding pass. “Excuse me, do you know where I can find the boarding platform for the train to Vanhoover?” Frenzy asked with a smile. The pony looked down from his magazine and past his back hooves, which were propped on his desk. He gave a simple nod in the general direction of one of the platforms, and went back to his magazine. “Thanks! You’re so...helpful...?” Frenzy recalled her ticket with her magic and made her way through the crowds towards the building he pointed to. Once inside, she looked around and spotted Clarity sitting on one of the benches. Thankfully she was sitting near the door so Frenzy could easily spot her. She ran over to her and imidiately apologized. “I’m so sorry! I had some...complications...” Frenzy said nervously. She hopped onto the bench next to the violet mare, hoping she wouldn’t be too upset.

@Scare Effect Summer laughed. “I didn’t want to wake you but this rain seems to have done it for me.” Summer floated a pile of berries on a small plastic plate over to Scare. “Don’t worry, they’re safe to eat.” Summer smiled “I’ve already had some.” “We should probably get a move on soon though. Not stay in one place too long. It’s not the rain that worries me, but the creatures that come out in it. Cragodiles and whatnot.” Summer placed her bags on her back to avoid them getting more soaked from the mud.

@Raven Rawne Frenzy was waiting at the station for what felt like hours. She paced around with a worried expression on her face. Surely she didn’t leave without me right? The train. It hasn’t even arrived yet. Right..? Her mind was flooded with thoughts tormenting her about the situation. She started to second guess herself. The sun would be lowered soon and there was no sign of her partner. The platform she was at had no clock in the visible area. This struck Frenzy as odd. At a place with a strict boarding and arrival schedule, wouldn’t there be plenty of clocks around? Suddenly a uniformed Pegasus swooped down and pulled a letter out of her messenger bag. She handed it to Frenzy before flaring her wings and taking off. Frenzy opened the letter a skimmed through it until she found one sentence that demanded her attention: We regret to inform you that you have been discharged from this mission. Frenzy’s heart sunk. She felt a wave of confusion followed by regret. She had no idea what she did wrong. Had she said something to anger the meeting manager? Suddenly she heard a loud booming voice. She had no idea where it was coming from. “You thought you could handle this?! HA! What a laugh. You would have failed anyway!” Followed by piercing laughter that stung her ears. “Please make it stop!” Frenzy screamed. Frenzy’s eyes shot open and she felt a scream welling up in the back of her throat. As her eyes reoriented themselves, the sky blue walls of her bedroom came back into view, along with her prairie dog who was giving her a strange look. He cocked his head to the side and chirped. “Wow. I guess I’m more nervous about this mission than I thought...” Frenzy muttered. “Thank goodness that was just a-“ Frenzy’s eyes met with the clock that was hanging on her wall, which read 5:43. “OH NO! I’m going to be late!!” Frenzy leapt our of bed and scrambbled to grab all her things, frantically checking of her mental list as she went. “I can’t beleive I dozed off without setting an alarm!” She dug her keys out of her smaller set of bags and bolted towards the front door. ”Alright Zigzag, my parants are coming to pick you up in a few hours so be good for them!” She spoke so fast, she could hardly separate her own words. She then sped out the door locking it behind her. She made a mad dash for the train station hoping she would make it on time.

@Pr0m4NV14 @Battenberg Summer rushed out of the train car, and in her haste, nearly ran straight into a crystal pony dressed in armor. He appeared to be one of the guards of the empire. Summer pawed nervously at the ground as the pony questioned the duo. “Um sorry to bother you sir but...you see...there’s been a mistake! Our friend got captured and put into one of those wagons with the other bandits! He wasn’t with them, honest. He’s with us.” Summer pleaded to the armored pony. “We need to catch up to that wagon before they take him away!” Summer told the guard, half expecting him not to believe her. Summer looked to Victoria, hoping she would back up her claim.

@Pr0m4NV14 @Battenberg “I do? Well I suppose I could try...” Summer was about to leave the train car when she heard a commotion outside. She turned around and trotted to the window. She saw a bunch of official looking ponies dragging a brown stallion into a covered wooden wagon. “Wait a minute is that...MIKE?!” Summer motioned for Victoria to come see. “Oh my goodness they’ve got him in restraints! We’ve gotta do something!”

@Pr0m4NV14 @Battenberg "Victoria! I'm so glad I finally found you!" Summer exclaimed when Victoria came around the corner. Summer immediately noticed Victoria's injured leg. "Heh, it's a long story and- Oh my goodness look what they did to you!" She dropped her bag on the ground and rooted through it until she pulled out her bandages. "I could have sworn I heard Mike around here too, but I never actually saw him." Summer got to work cleaning her friend's wound and wrapped the bandage around her leg to stop the bleeding. "Now this is going to feel kind of strange at first but I promise it will make you feel better." Summer ignited her horn and touched it to the area where the wound was concealed by the bandages. After a few moments the pain began to dissipate until it was just a slight tickle. The green unicorn smiled and backed away so her friend could have some space. The glow emitting from her horn went back to normal. "Wait you were with him just now? That's odd I wonder where he went." Summer said as she began to put away her things.

@Raven Rawne “Hmm good point. I guess between the two of us we should remember most everything we’ll need. And I’m sure Tall Tale will have shops. It seems like a pretty good sized place.” The duo made their way back through the hallways of the fancy building. “Right then. I’ll see you back here at 6:00 then. Time to go get packed!” Frenzy smiled as she parted ways with Clarity, making a mental list of items she would need to bring. She made her way down the busy streets all the while promptly declining as ponies tried to sell her stuff. She trotted down Amethyest Ave until she stopped at a small, blue, one story building. She floated a key out of one of her pouches and unlocked the door to her home. Frenzy was greeted by her grey and white pinstriped prairie dog as she walked through the door. She gave him a hug and went into her bedroom where she tossed her bag down on the bed. “Do you want to help me pack Zigzag?” She laughed as he stuck his head into one of the pouches. “I’m going to need a bigger bag than this.” She said to herself as she trotted over to her closet. She rummaged through her belongings until she found a larger set of saddle bags and placed them open on her floor. She then started collecting items from around the house that she thought she would need for the trip: some freeze dried fruits and veggies, a canteen filled with water, a general map, the spell scroll and other items that Buckshot gave her, bug spray, a small first aid kit, a toothbrush, some rope, and some extra bits. I’m sure I’m forgetting something, Frenzy thought, but she dismissed it when she couldn’t place what it was. Oh, well I’ve got a couple hours to think of it. Frenzy decided to go get something to eat for lunch while she waited for the time to regroup with Clarity. She fed Zigzag, and went back out into the busy atmosphere that was Canterlot.

"Understood, Sir." Frenzy turned to her new companion. "I guess its time to get packed then." Frenzy gathered all the items that Buckshot gave them, including the unclaimed tickets and pouch of bits. "And we will get out of your hair. Thanks for the info sir, you won't be disappointing." She thought she heard him mumble "I hope not" under his breath but, she figured she was mistaken. As the two mares found themselves back out into the hallway, Frenzy redistributed the bits and tickets, and floated Clarity's portion out for her to grab. "Well this will certainly be interesting." Frenzy said smiling. "Personally, I've never been to Tall Tale before. Have you? I'm not really sure what to bring so I guess I'll just pack the general stuff..." She trailed off lost in thought. Once she realized, her snapped her attention back to the lavender unicorn, who looked worried about the endeavor. "Hey, I wouldn't worry about it too much. They wouldn't send us if they didn't think we could handle it." She said smiling.

@Pr0m4NV14 @Battenberg Summer clung onto the railing of the car she was on until the train arrived in the station. Once it came to a stop, she gathered her things and hopped down. The confused unicorn walked the length of the train, peering into each of the cars as she went looking for her companions. Suddenly Snickers jumped down and took off running. He stopped at one of the cars and gestured for Summer to investigate. She grabbed her pet and placed them back on her head, putting her ear up to the wall as she did so. Mike and Victoria’s voices could be heard from inside. Summer knocked excitedly on the door. “Hello? MIKE? VICTORIA? Is that you guys??”

@Pr0m4NV14 @Battenberg After resting for a bit, Summer checked the door behind her. Unsurprisingly, it was locked. She opened one of the pouches of her saddle bag to check on Snickers, who hopped out and climbed onto her head. Snickers chirped angrily at Summer. “I know, I know. I’m sorry.” She apologized to her pet. “I wasn’t expecting this either.” She looked around for another way in, and came up empty. “Looks like we have tor ride back the rest of the way out here.” She laid back down and crossed her forlegs. “Much better than walking though right?”

@Scare Effect "Good night." Summer said. She wasn't sure how easily she would be able to sleep under these circumstances. She knew she had to try though, considering the events that were likely to unfold tomorrow. Luna's moon shone brilliantly in the cloud-free sky, casting a heavy shadow under trees. The glow of their fire as their primary light source, was slowly starting to die down. Summer's pet bird was already sound asleep in the branches above. Summer inched ever so slightly closer Scare Effect, before curling up to sleep for the night. * * * The green unicorn awoke to a cold sensation running down her nose. She opened her eyes sleepily and was instantly jolted to attention when she realized it was starting to rain. She scrabbled to her feet and started packing everything into her bag. The map didn't seem to be too damaged, and the ground wasn't soaked yet so she figured must have just began. (I just now realized I forgot the tag sorry)

@Raven Rawne Frenzy’s face lit up when she saw the manager enter the hallway. “Nice to meet you sir. I hope the morning has treated you well!” She gave a slight bow to respect his authority. “Frenzy Bolt and Clarity I presume?” The brown stallion spoke in a stiff, serious tone. The mares nodded, as he began to unlock the door. Frenzy eagerly followed the other two ponies into the small room, which Frenzy found to be rather...disappointing. This room was all business, with just a table and some worn down chairs amidst its wooden carved walls. Evidently they didn’t want any distractions during their meetings but, still, the lack of decor seemed to clash with interiors of any other buildings in Canterlot she had been in. Even the training rooms that the guards used in the barracks where more decked out than this. Frenzy shook off her initial impressions and found a seat next to Clarity. Buckshot, as the meeting leader had introduced himself, gathered his paperwork and joined the duo at the table. Frenzy’s ears perked up at this news. “That must mean we are being sent for something really important then!” She glanced over at Clarity who seemed worried when Buckshot said this. Buckshot raised an eyebrow at Frenzy and she took it as her cue to stop talking. She blushed and used her magic to slide one of the copies of the reports over to herself, slightly hiding her face with it. The manager continued. Frenzy listened intently as Buckshot described the problems they were having in a town called Tall Tale. Frenzy had heard its name before, but didn’t know much about the place beyond that. He described a creature that was dubbed “rhynosaurus” that some of the ponies had apparently seen. He didn’t have any “good” photographs of it, but the reports included a few eyewitness descriptions of the creature. Frenzy’s curiously only grew as she skimmed through the sighting reports: has a three large horns and a wicked tail, one of them read. Basically a prehistoric beast with a bad attitude, claimed another. “Does this mean you’re sending us to Tall Tale sir?” Frenzy asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.

@Pr0m4NV14 @Battenberg Summer ended up slipping and tumbling down the slope most of the way but managed to make it to the bottom without much issue. She saw the train speeding off in the direction of the empire and, fearing the long walk in the snow, decided to try to catch it. She winced as her foreleg flared up in pain, but she new she was going to have to run if she would have any chance of catching up. The distressed unicorn took off after the train in a surprising burst of speed. As she galloped up to the moving cars, she knew it wasn’t going to slow down. She was going to have to jump. The train was much faster and it was pulling ahead. She had to act soon, lest she get left behind. She used her magic to toss her bags onto the platform and mentally prepared herself for the jump. Summer using all her remaining energy, jumped up and managed to land onto the platform with a loud crash of her hooves. She then collapsed in exhaustion.