Tempest Rime

Roleplay Type: Mane RP Name: Shard Talyn Sex: Female Age: Teen Species: Sky Dragon Eye Color: Red with slit pupils Scale Color: Green over most of her body, with iridescent blue scales on her belly and wings. Spines/Horns/Markings Color & Style: Shard has a plethora of thin, blue spines that hang down along her head, as if they were a messy head of hair. A pair of long, thin horns jut forward from her brow, curving downward about halfway along their length. Her tail is barbed, and she often curls the tip when not using it. Physique: Lean, but strong and tough Flame Color: White Origin/Residence: Painted Pinto Desert Occupation: Mercenary Motivation: Become a legendary hero Likes: Gold, heroism, lava baths, buffalo, diamond dogs, fizzy water Dislikes: Her hoarding instinct, villainy, the ocean Character Summary: Shard was hatched in the mountains near the Painted Pinto desert, and spent her early childhood with a few other dragons. She never really seemed to fit in, though her laid-back attitude meant that she was never really picked on either. Her mother paid little attention to her, and she didn't even know her father. She was left to fend for herself most of the time, which suited her. It meant that she was free to do as she pleased, and she took to exploring the countryside. It was while exploring that she first encountered a tribe of buffalo. While most animals had the good sense to be terrified of a dragon, even a young one such as her, the buffalo had good relations with many dragons, and they treated her to delicious gemstones and told stories over a roaring fire. Shard enjoyed their company so much more than her own kind that she took to meeting with any tribes that came into the area, trading stories and trinkets. One day she flew forth to meet one such group of buffalo, only to discover that it was being pursued by a desert hydra. Though still young enough that she was dwarfed by the monster, she took a deep breath and belched out a dazzling ball of flame, sending the creature's heads into a confused panic and sending it packing. The grateful buffalo showered her with praise and gifts, briefly sending her hoarding instincts into overdrive. She nearly turned on them, until she remembered the stories she had learned. She knew in her heart that she wanted to be the hero of one of those stories, not the villain, and she retook control of herself. She returned home and dedicated herself to training. The other dragons didn't know what to think, seeing such a dramatic change in young Shard. She quickly changed from one of the laziest young dragons in the mountains into one tough enough to rival any of her peers. She trained and sparred with the aggressive young males in her area until she was agile and strong, though she was generally aloof enough that she still failed to really fit in with them. Then came the day of the Great Migration. Every dragon in the mountains had been planning it for years, so it was hardly a surprise, but Shard realized that she didn't want to go. The Migration would take her to the Badlands, far away from everything she knew, from everything she dreamed of being. So it was that when all the other dragons set flight for parts unknown, Shard slipped away and made for a local Diamond Dog settlement, where she knew she could find work.

I plan on being one of the initial infected, and eating as many survivors as possible.

Wouldn't the European folks on the forum consider any Hollywood films foreign? I liked Pontypool, but that was Canadian, so it's not really that foreign, though there are a few bits in french. It's a very atmospheric horror film. I haven't seen the American remakes, but Let The Right One In and the original The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo were excellent. If you want something weird, there's always French films, like Dark Portals: The Chronicles of Vidocq. And of course, if you like kung fu movies, you can't go wrong with the first three Once Upon A Time in China films. Some of Jet Li's finest right there.

Pinkie burst out giggling. "A book? Oh Twilight, you're such a great comedian! There's no way I could have delivered that joke with a straight face! Hee hee hee, a book for hearts and hooves day." She bounded over and slapped Twilight on the back jovially. "Hmm, I dunno much about fashion. I don't think anypony in Ponyville really knows it that well, aside from Rarity of course. The last time we tried to do fashion stuff it didn't end well. You definitely don't want to get her something unfashionable, so clothes could be risky. Oh I know, you could get her a big old bouquet and have it sent to her." Her stomach rumbled. "Mmm, I could go for some flowers right now."

"Good," said Lola sharply. "Then I believe our business is concluded for now. Now if you'll excuse me, I have my own business to attend to. I've spent quite enough time in Stalliongrad, I have duties in Talonopolis and Rockwington to attend to and assets there to mobilize for this project as well. If you need to contact me for any reason, here's my card." She pulled a pair of business cards and tossed them casually across the table to the two ponies. She gathered up the pile of papers she had brought, slipped them into a folder, and slipped that back into her purse. "With that, I bid you adieu. I shall be in touch, no need to give me your own contact information. I have it all already." She smiled widely, showing off the leonine teeth that bristled within her beak, and stepped out the door.

"Ok... lets see." Mal sat down and closed her eyes, focusing on the flame of anger that burned inside her. This wasn't going to be just blasting with fire, which was good. Blasting actually expended far more magical energy than simply maintaining a curtain of flame, as she had done earlier to stop the Doctor's cart. "Focus... control." She concentrated on her emotions, doing as the Doctor had suggested. She shut her eyes and sat there for a time. The sound of the Doctor working and the other unicorns babbling on was lost on Mal, she toned it out. It was much easier so close to the ley line. She just turned her attention to the feel of the magic rushing through the area, a flood of power, far more than any unicorn spell could channel. It was nothing like the conjunction of ley lines near Canterlot Caste, but it was still enthralling to submerge her senses in. She tempered her emotions in this spring of magic, hastening her recovery. And maybe, just maybe, she admitted to herself that the tea was helping. Just a little.

I caught an episode of Strawberry Shortcake a while back when I had actual Hub access, and it didn't seem that bad. I mean, it wasn't FiM quality, but it wasn't unpleasant. With some good writers, it could easily be made pretty good, no reboot required. Pirates of Dark Water on the other hand I would LOVE to see remade, especially if they got a top-notch writing team like they had on Avatar. And of course, Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls would make an amazing show. I would also love to see Disney try to jump on the bandwagon with their Disney Fairies franchise. A well-done TV series to build off the movies they've made would make me very happy. I liked the movies already, and if they made a quality show they could do a lot more with the less developed characters. Sadly, quality shows do not often actually result in increased lifespan. Such has been the bane of TV veiwers since the dawn of network television. Great shows get cancelled all the time for all kinds of reasons, while other great ideas languish in the creative blight that stifles innovation. Most programming still caters to the lowest common denominator, and it one more cult hit isn't going to change their policies.

"Permanent, huh? Hmm..." Pinkie mused for a moment before voicing the same issue Spike had been thinking of. "Well, I guess there's always gems, but that's kinda obvious, and it'd be hard to top that whatchamacallit ruby you gave her a while back. You don't want an old gift to overshadow your new one. Besides, she's got those magic powers for finding gems, so small ones are less r... oh, less of a Rarity. Hee hee!" "Well, if you can't think of anything, why not just browse. There's tons of stuff at the market. Why, you never know, the PERFECT gift could be sitting out there, just waiting for somepony... or some dragon to come buy it! I mean, researching is fine and all, but everypony is different. You're not gonna find anything in a book that will tell you exactly what to get. I mean, unless somepony wrote a book specifically on courting her. That would be weird... and kinda creepy."

Pinkie Pie popped out of the backpack. "FOREVER!" She hissed, just as a reminder for Twilight. She hopped out of the bag and brushed herself off, leaving everypony to ponder just how long she had waited in there, as she had certainly not been in there when Spike had left. "Anyway Spike, you know what they say: the way to a mare's heart is through her stomach. Chocolates are a classic gift, but you can't just get any old box of chocolates. She is a lady with expensive tastes, you'll need some kind of upscale, imported sweets!" Pinkie pointed down the street at an import shop. "That place has some amazing stuff, if you want to check them out." Pinkie's face fell. "I'd go in with you, but after that last time they banned me from the store. I mean, how was I supposed to know how expensive that stuff was? I woulda paid them back eventually..." She frowned at the memory, but a quick change of perspective brought her back to an upbeat grin. "Oh well, at least I don't have expensive tastes. I just have expansive ones." She giggled.

"Getting those ponies to safety would have been a lot easier if you'd just scared the machines off like that in the first place," Mal muttered as Trixie walked away. Although Trixie's explaination did make sense. If it was something the other mare couldn't have done multiple times, making sure she got them all was important. Still, it wasn't like Mal to be reasonable, and she wasn't about to start, so she didn't acknowledge Trixie's logic. Glancing back at the Doctor, her expression softened ever so slightly. What he was saying actually made sense. It was perhaps the first useful bit of magical advice she'd ever gotten from a living pony, and he wasn't even a unicorn. "I..." She gave him a grudging look for a moment and then swiped the cup, holding it atop a hoof. "Well, since you're going to need help quickly, I guess I'll take this." In one motion, she slammed back the warm tea and chugged it all. After pausing for a moment after finishing the tea, she looked back up to the Doctor. "Ahem. Anyway, no. I can't burn dirt. Metals burn fine, but most of the junk in dirt isn't flammable, even to my special flames. Aside from metal, it pretty much just burns the same sort of stuff as normal fire. I can focus it pretty well, but even if I do freeze water, it isn't gonna stay frozen any better than normal ice. Plus, it can't actually touch the water, since that'll put out the cold flame just as effectively as the normal stuff. Forming a dam in a bunch of moving water like that is pretty much impossible, since any ice I create is gonna form on the surface first and just instantly float away." She frowned. "Maybe if we had some kind of framework to work off of I could do something, but I can't make any promises."

Mal glared at Rose, her expression hardening more and more as the red unicorn spoke. "Do you think I'm an idiot? I've never heard such a load of horseapples. I mean first, have you actually read up on the forest at all? 'Cause I've read plenty, and I never heard of nothing even remotely like that. And second, I've been in and out of the Everfree looking for ruins and junk just like that, and you know what I've found? Nothing! So if you actually have some information on an actual location, I'd love to hear it, but baseless legends you may have heard from the uneducated rubes who inhabit places like Ponyville? No thanks." She snorted and scuffed at the ground with one hoof. "Anyway, if that's the best line of inquiry you can recommend, I've got better ways to waste my time. Plenty of credible sources that will all likely end up leading to nothing without wasting time with mumbo jumbo that's guaranteed to do so. Mal sighed and glanced back at the other two. "Ugh, regardless, this place is starting to drag. I'm out of here, leave these sickos to their..." She gagged slightly "Lovey dovey stuff. You can stay here and peep on them if you really want. I'm going back to a real city, getting this wound treated around here is probably worse than leaving it open to fester." With that she started walking, intent on bypassing Ponyville proper on her way back to Canterlot.

Beachnut slowly and nervously made her way to the place she had heard the nut family reunion was going to be. She was wearing a long dress over her wetsuit to conceal her tail. While the ponies in Canterlot seemed nice, she was not too keen on attracting as much attention as a hippocamp in a non-coastal city was likely to attract, not to mention the fact that she wasn't quite certain how well her relatives would accept such a thing. With her dress, she could pass for an earth pony, so long as she didn't have to move too fast and reveal her awkward gait. She looked around quizzically, not recognizing anypony there. That was hardly, surprising, as her father hadn't even had pictures of his family on the island, and the only relative she was certain she could identify at a glace was Uncle Brazil, who she'd heard many stories about. The unfamiliarity just served to run in the point that she was a complete stranger to all these ponies, and she felt extremely awkward thinking about that. Would they accept her? Would they even believe she was part of the family? Only one way to find out. She swallowed her nervousness and scooted towards the group of ponies in front of her. "Allo? Is... is this the Nut family party? It is just that I 'ave never met any of my extended family. Ah, I forget myself, I am Beachnut. My father is Malabar, and my grandfather is Butternut..." She trailed off awkwardly. What else could she say? She knew very little about her family, and what she did know was dated to when her father had disappeared. His failure to even let the family know he was alive could have left some hard feelings among the family as well.

Mal frowned and glared at the Doctor. "I don't need your 'cuppa,'" she snarled, turning up her nose at the tea. "I carry my own weight. This is nothing, I've had my eye clawed out, I can live with a little headache." She groaned and cradled her head for a moment as another flash of pain passed over her. "Uhhh... and yeah, my fire burns cold. If I put enough of it near standing water, it'll freeze it. But running water won't stay near enough the flame to freeze, and actually dousing the flame in it like that puts it out just as fast as normal fire. I was just... frustrated. And it's not actually versatile at all. It just makes it even less useful than regular fire. At least that can keep you warm on a cold night. All I can do is... destroy things." She sighed and looked down at the ground. "The fire... it's a literal extension of my emotions. I mean, I know a lot of magical theory is based around emotions and state of mine, but when I use my fire it's not just fueled by emotion, it literally is anger and frustration burning away. T-that's why... that's why I yelled at that kid earlier. I thought I'd need the extra charge to blast whatever was making the robots. I... I never wanted-" Before she could continue, Trixie returned, announcing her success at repairing the vehicle. Instantly Mal's attitude reappeared. "Well good for you," she snapped, sarcastically. She glared accusingly at the other blue unicorn. "You know, if you could have just driven off the robots like that anytime, why did you wait so long? We could have been killed!"

"Whaaat?" Pinkie gasped, aghast. "I would never! It's not for cheating, besides, you'd really only need a couple aces for that anyway. It's for a trick, there's another deck floating around somewhere with no ace of spades to go with it. Of course, seeing that deck kind of ruins that trick... well anyway..." Pinkie grabbed a pile of tails and pointed toward a wall, where the tail-less pony was waiting. "Who wants what color, and who's going first?" Before anypony else could answer, she snatched the pink tail. "I'll take pink. For Pinkie." She smiled slyly at the others, as if there was something suspicious going on they didn't know about.

Yeah, I can't stand Big Bang Theory myself, though my friends all like it for some reason, and have made me watch a few episodes. Ugh. Of course, I thought Dexter was pretty terrible, too. Anyway, current shows I do like are pretty much limited to MLP (obviously), Doctor Who, and Bones. I'm somewhat interested in checking out Game of Thrones, but haven't gotten around to it. What I really miss is Dead Like Me. That show was great.

Mal groaned and stirred. Her head ached, and her emotional reserves were completely empty. She sat up and looked at the other ponies grudgingly. Her ears were ringing, and she had trouble making out what they were saying. Why had she gone and blown all her magic like that? It was stupid, and it hadn't accomplished anything. She couldn't believe she'd made such a dumb mistake. Now she was suffering from a severe magical backlash. It wasn't the first time she'd felt it, but usually she had a good reason to unleash like that. "Ugh, where the hay are we?" She pushed herself up and out of the cart, looking around blearily. She eyed the apples the others were eating hungrilly, but made no request for any. She didn't want any more charity from these ponies. She stepped away from the cart a short distance, finding some berries that looked edible. She picked them off with her mouth, not wanting to try any levitation while the backlash was wracking her.

"Alrighty, lets see..." Pinkie dealt the cards out without actually picking a game. She picked up her cards and paused, noting immediately that she had five of the ace of spades in her hoof. "Hmm... I think this may be the wrong deck." She flipped the rest of the deck over to find that all the other cards were also aces of spades. "I know they say this is the only card you need, but I can't think of any games that would work like this." She tossed the cards away. "Um, ok, well, maybe we can play something else, do either of you have any ideas? There's always pin the tail on the pony!" She grinned sheepishly, slightly embarrassed that her trick card deck had been revealed in such an obvious way.

Mal scoffed at Dark. "There's no use trying to reason with that one," she said to Rose. "Let him fail on his own. At least he stands up for his foalishness, pathetic though it may be. Still better than most ponies who cower at the thought of our overlords." She paused, finally considering Rose's earlier statement now that she had said her peace to the little runt. "So what's all this about dark magic?" Mal of course had no idea that Rose was a fiction writer, so the joke went over her head, but any mention of forbidden knowledge drew her attention. She walked up to Rose, closing in to menacing distance and lowering her voice. "If you happen to know of anything like that, I'd be awfully curious. Maybe even enough that I'd be willing to trade for it. Not that I want to do anything stupid with it, I know better than to mess with the Princesses, unlike Doofus over there, I just have an interest in the freedom of information. See, there's something other than fighting I can get behind." Mal had completely lost interest in Dark and Cat now, and she ignored them as they wandered off to do their lovey dovey rubbish. She grinned disturbingly at Rose. It may have been just an offhand comment about dark magic, but Mal was not one to give up on a lead, regardless of how far-fetched it may be.

Pinkie's smile somehow continually seemed to intensify, almost reaching the point where one would expect her jaw to fall off her face. "Sarsaparillas coming riiiight up." She finally released her sisters and galloped to the fridge, pulling out a bottle for each of them and placing straws in the bottles. She returned in a flash balancing the bottles on a tray. "Here ya go." Before anypony could say anything else, she darted back out of the room returning with a deck of cards and a card table. "Okay, since I figured we'd have a lot to catch up on, I figured we could make a game out of it. We play cards, and whoever loses each round has to share something! Whaddaya think?" She grinned and sipped at her sarsaparilla as she rolled the table up and pushed it upright.

I generally watch the intro theme the first time I watch an episode, but skip it on subsequent viewings.

I mean whitelisting sites to let through an adblocker for a 5th option, rather than blacklisting specific ads. A lot like in your first option, but allows for greater security when going to an unknown site. Admittedly, I don't actually use an adblocker myself, so I don't know if any available ones allow for that, but it doesn't sound like an unreasonable option. As for aggravation, yes, it is getting through to me, but it's not necessarily getting the product through. I see a pop-up, and all I look at is the pop-up window in order to close it. I hear a loud "CONGRATULATIONS, YOU'VE WON" and I mute my sound immediately, or close the window. What is that ad even for? I couldn't say. I just assume it's just a virus or something.

Protecting your computer from intrusive ads is not something I'd ever call evil. It's self-defense. Is it also evil to mute your TV when commercials come on, or fast-forward through the commercials if you've recorded it? Or to skip the ads they cram into the front of your DVDs? If the advertisement is only serving to aggravate you, it's not doing what is supposed to be doing, and plenty of ads on the internet are downright malicious. Now granted, plenty of web sites only manage to stay afloat because of ads, and I wouldn't block the ads from sites I trust not to give my computer viruses or be overly aggressive, but for unfamiliar sites, or sites with particularly aggressive ads, I have no problem with people using an blocker. I'd never block Canterlot's ads, for example, as not only are they safe, they're also usually relevant to the site, and not even particularly intrusive. The talking ads or infinite popup chains on the other hand I would have no moral issues with squashing. So I guess that would actually be sort of a 5th option. Rather than blacklisting ads after you've seen them, whitelist the sites you trust and actually want to support with ad revenue. And while you're at it, it's also helpful to actually click said ads occasionally, too.

We've got a 2-week gap, FYI. The next episode isn't supposed to air until the 7th.

Finally catching her breath, Pinkie immediately trailed off into a fit of giggles. "Oh my gosh, seriously though, I have so much stuff to tell you about that I don't even know where to begin! This year has seriously been, like, the BEST YEAR EVER! I've made so many amazing friends and had awesome adventures, did you know there was even chocolate milk rain a little while back! CHOCOLATE MILK RAIN! I take it back, I do know where to begin, and it's with CHOCOLATE MILK RAIN!" Pinkie dragged them closer to the mountain of snacks, putting Agate's cookies front and center. She took one and wolfed it down with a look of immense satisfaction. "Mmmm, anyway, before I get too into it, do either of you want anything to drink? I got some FANTASTIC sarsaparilla I've been saving for this if you want some!"

Mal shrugged. "At least you're trying to learn something, I guess. But if you don't keep up on current events, you may as well just let the monsters overrun Equestria." She sighed. "Ugh, it doesn't matter, do whatever you like." Mal scowled and looked out the window. "I guess I feel better. I feel... closer to normal at least. So what now? The coffee'll definitely keep you up for a bit, but what else do ponies do on a free night like this? Normally I'd get out of town for a day or two, I'm at a bit of a loss for what to do next."